-r^-tj-t. 


C^>^*' 


SWEDENBORG   AND   THE  NEW  AGE; 


THE  HOLY  CITY  NEW  JERUSALEM." 


WHAT    IT    IS,    AND    WHEN    AND    HOW    IT    "  COMES    DOWN 
FROM    GOD    OUT   OF    HEAVEN  ;" 


SWEDENBORG   AND    HIS   MISSION   IN   RELATION   TO    IT. 


INTRODUCTION    ON    GOD   AND    MAN. 


BY 

EDMUND   A.  BEAMAN, 

AUTHOU    OP    "the    RIVEIl    OF    LIFE,"    "  FROWARl)    TO    THE    FROWARD, 

"the  scienti.st's  theology,"  etc. 


"He  shall  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  He  may  abide  with  3*011  for- 
ever, even  the  SPIRIT  of  Truth."— John  xiv.  16,  17. 
"And  the  Truth  shall  make  you  free." — John  viii.  32. 


'       PHILADELPHfA.:''       "' 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT   &   CO. 

1881. 


Copyright,  1881,  by  J.  B.  Lippin'cott  &  Co. 


J-J>/\ 


CONTENTS. 


,^ 


■1- 


INTKODUCTION. 

(iOD    AND    MAN. 


1.  God  the  Same  to  All 

2.  All  DifiFerence  in  Recipient  Conditions 

3.  God  as  the  Word 

4.  What  is  the  Word  ? 

5.  God  as  Influx 

6.  Nothing  Finite  in  Influx 

7.  Mistakes  and  Expedients 

8.  God  Unchangeable 

9.  God  is  Love     . 

10.  Not  Outside     . 

11.  Manifestations 

12.  God's  Personality 

13.  Omnipresence 

14.  True  Basis  of  Thought 


PA  HE 
7 

8 
8 
10 
10 
13 
16 
18 
1!» 
1!) 
20 
25 
28 
29 


CHAPTEE    I. 

GENERAL    PRINCIPLES. 

1.  Swedenborg     ...........  31 

2.  Why  these  Questions? .         .31 

3.  AVhat  we  Propose  to  Show       ........  32 

4.  The  New  Departure         .........  33 

5.  Illustrative  Example       .........  36 

6.  The  "  Main  Factor" 37 

7.  Illumination   ...........  39 

8.  Perception       ...........  40 

9.  Undeistanding  and  Will           ........  41 

10.  Revelation  from  Perception     ........  42 

11.  Dictation          .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  43 

12.  AV ho  have  Revelation  from  Perception  ?  .         .         .         .         .44 

13.  Formulated  Truth 45 

3 


CONTENTS. 


14.  The  AVritings 

15.  Truth  not  Transferable 

16.  The  Writings.— How  Useful 

17.  Not  all  the  Truth 

18.  Truth 

19.  Authority  to  the  ]\Ian  of  this  Age 

20.  Evidence       ......... 

21.  The  Man  of  the  Age  and  the  Writings  .... 

CHAPTEK    II. 

SWEBENBORG'S    RELATION    TO    THE    LORD. 


1.  Inspiration    ..... 

2.  Of  Two  Kinds        .... 

3.  The  Lord's  Part  in  the  Writings   . 

4.  "Instilled" 

5.  Swedenborg's  Part 

6.  His  Partial  Separation  from  the  Body 

7.  His  Inspiration      .... 

8.  Conditions  of  Internal  Inspiration 

9.  Result  of  Regeneration 


PAGE 

46 

48 

49 

49 

50. 

51 

52 

54 


56 

57 
58 
60 
62 
05 
67 
68 
71 


CHAPTER  III. 

RELATION    TO    THE    LORD    {Coutimied). 


SWEDENBORG 

1.  "Varied  a  Little" 

2.  Swedenborg  and  the  Prophets        .... 

3.  Exceptional  ........ 

4.  Individuality  Sacredly  Intact        .... 

5.  AYhy  the  Word  is  Holy  in  the  Letter     . 

6.  Instructed  by  Angels 

7.  AVritings  not  Correspondences        .... 

8.  Instructed  by  the  Lord ...... 

9.  The  Lord's  Writings 

C  H  A  P  T  E  II     l\  . 

man's   RELATION    TO    TH  K    LOKD. 

1.  The  Regenerated  Man   . 

2.  How  the  Lord  governs  Men  . 

3.  Certain  Passages:  AVhat  they  Show 

4.  Strange  Conclusions 

5.  "  Led  by  the  Lord" 

6.  Swedenborg  as  Servant  of  the  Lord 

7.  How  all  Man's  Works  are  the  Lord's 


73 
73 
76 
79 

81 
82 
83 
85 
87 


89 
91 
93 
94 
96 
97 
103 


/ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    V. 

HIS    CALL    AND    PREPARATION. 


The  Lord  Ajipeiired  to  Iliiu  . 

"Specially  Qualified"    . 

His  Call         .... 

His  Preparation    . 

Not  a  Prodigy 

A  Student  of  the  Natural  Sciences 

Swedenborg  as  a  Scientist 

The  Next  Step       ... 

His  Search  for  the  Soul 

His  Principles  of  Investigation 

Changes  his  Plan  . 

Correspondence  and  Representation 

His  State  Ripening 

Another  Transition 

Ripened  for  Nobler  Work 

His  Intromission 

His  Intromission  Progressive 

Importance  of  his  Intromission 


PAGE 
107 

109 
114 
115 
121 
122 
124 
126 
128 
128 
130 
132 
134 
135 
137 
139 
140 
144 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    WRITINOS    AND    THE    SPIRITUAL    SENSE. 

1.  The  Writings         .... 

2.  The  Spiritual  Sense 

3.  Absurd  Conclusions 

4.  Only  Explanations 

5.  What  Swedenborg  calls  his  Writings 

6.  The  Writings  and  the  AVonl . 


146 
148 
149 
150 
152 
154 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE    BOOKS    AND    THE    ADVENT. 

1.  Advent  Written  on  the  Books        .         .         .         .         .         .         .157 

2.  Advent  a  Perception      .........     158 

3.  The  Books  only  Treatises  on  the  Advent       .         .         .         .         .159 

4.  Man  as  an  Instrument  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .161 

5.  The  Writings  only  an  Ex])lanation        ......     163 

6.  General  Principles  .........     165 

7.  The  Word  Unveiled 167 

8.  Knowledge  First  Needed 168 

9.  Kind  of  Knowled'^e 169 


6  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

10.  The  Man  Needed  as  an  Instrument       ......  170 

n.  Style  of  Sacred  Scripture 170 

12.  Science  of  Correspondences   ........  171 

13.  The  Expounder 172 

14.  AVhat  Makes  Man  Man 174 

15.  His  own  Writings  .         .         .         .     • 174 

16.  Why  and  When  the  Lord  Comes  .         .         .         .         .         .         .176 

17.  Humanity  in  the  Middle  of  the  Last  Century       ....  176 

18.  Why  the  Lord  Came  When  He  Did 177 

19.  Kesults  of  Second  Advent 179 

CHAPTEE    VIII. 

CHRIST    AKD    SWEDENBORG. 

1.  What  Christ  is  to  Man 183 

2.  The  Man  of  the  New  Jerusalem 185 

3.  Light  of  Experience      .........  187 

4.  Oracles 188 

5.  Revealed  by  Explanation       ........  190 

6.  The  Crucible  of  Thought 191 

CHAPTEE    IX. 

AUTHORITY    AND    INFALLIBILITY. 

1.  Diflferent  Kinds  to  Different  States         ......  195 

2.  "Authority  in  the  New  Church" 200 

3.  "To  be  Believed  First" 201 

4.  Misinterpreted  Statements    ........  202 

5.  A  State  of  "Intellectual  Truth" 206 

CHAPTEE    X. 

DOCTRINE    AND    THE    HOLY'    CITY. 

1.  Doctrine 209 

2.  Advent,  Doctrine,  and  Holy  City  the  sainc    .....  210 

3.  Doctrine  and  Doctrinals        ........  211 

4.  This  and  Preceding  Ages       ........  214 

5.  Swedenborg  and  the  New  Manhood       ......  216 

6.  The  Writings  an  Appeal  to  Rational  Minds 218 

7.  Wants  of  the  Coming  Man 220 

8.  Conclusion     ...........  223 


INTRODUCTION. 


GOD  AND  MAN. 


1 .  God  the  Same  to^All. 
In  ordei*  to  understand  Swedenborg  and  the  real  character 
of  his  WritingSj  as  reUxting  to  the  man  of  this  New  Age,  we 
must  first  have  true  views  of  God,  who  He  is,  what  He  is,  and 
\vhat  is  His  rehition  to  man.  With  true  views  of  God,  the 
Writings,  in  many  places,  have  a  very  different  meaning  from 
what  they  have  with  false  ideas  of  God.  Swedenborg  has  made 
it  especially  plain  that  God  is  absolutely  unchangeable, — un- 
changeable both  in  what  He  is  and  in  what  He  does, — and  also 
that  He  is  "  no  respecter  of  persons  ;"  and  thus  that,  so  far  as 
His  action  in  relation  to  men  is  concerned,  all  men  are  alike.  God 
is  the  Sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  and  His  radiance  is  eternally 
and  unchangeably  going  forth  to  all,  as  is  the  case  with  the  radi- 
ance of  His  great  representative,  the  sun  of  the  natural  world. 
And  is  it  because  of  any  change  in  what  the  natural  sun  does 
or  gives,  that  one  field  is  barren,  another  productive ;  that  one 
plant  or  tree  is  noble,  another  ignoble  ?  So,  is  it  owing  to 
anything  different  that  the  Lord  gives  or  does  for  men,  that 
they  are  different  from  each  other,  different  in  character  and 
different  in  capacity  ?  Is  this  the  reason  why  Swedenborg  was 
different  from  Nero,  or  different  from  Humboldt,  or  Shak- 
speare,  or  Napoleon  ?  Search  the  Scriptures,  and  search  the 
Writings,  and,  though  you  may  find  certain  misunderstood 
expressions,  you  will  find,  when  truly  interpreted,  no  affirmative 
answer  to  any  of  these  questions. 

7 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

2.  All  Difference  in  Recijnent  Conditions. 

On  the  contrary,  Swedenborg  plainly  teaches  that  the  cause 
of  all  the  diflferences  and  of  all  the  changes  in  men  is  in  dif- 
ferences and  changes  in  men  as  recipients  of  what  the  Lord 
gives.  And  this  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  reason  and  with 
what  we  see  and  learn  of  the  operations  of  Grod  in  nature.  A 
large  recipient  will  receive  more  than  a  small  one,  not  different 
in  kind.  And  the  action  of  what  is  received  will  be  different 
in  an  obedient  recipient  from  what  it  will  be  in  a  disobedient 
one ;  and  there  will  be,  accordingly,  a  corresponding  differ- 
ence in  the  results.  All  creatures  below  man  are  obedient  re- 
cipients. All  true  men,  so  far  as  they  are  true,  are  obedient 
recipients.  Selfish  men,  so  far  as  they  permit  their  selfishness 
to  rule  them,  are  disobedient  recipients.  That  is  to  say,  the 
former  act  according  to  the  good  impulses  of  the  life  that  flows 
into  them  from  the  Lord ;  the  latter  obey  their  selfish,  evil 
promptings  instead.  Swedenborg  was  an  obedient  recipient ; 
his  vessel  was  also  a  large  one ;  and  by  obedience  it  constantly 
increased  in  capacity  and  improved  in  quality,  so  that  he  be- 
came, in  many  respects,  a  most  extraordinary  man, — extraor- 
dinary for  his  goodness,  and  extraordinary  for  his  great  and 
varied  acquirements  and  talents.  But  it  was  all  owing,  let 
me  repeat,  not  in  the  least  degree  to  anything  different  that 
the  Lord  did  for  him  from  what  He  does  equally  for  all  men, 
but  to  what  was  in  and  constituted  the  man  and  to  his  use  of 
what  the  Lord  gave  him. 

But  what  did  the  Lord  do  for  Swedenborg?  Bather,  what 
is  it  that  the  Lord  does  for  all  men  ?  This  is  a  question  con- 
cerning which  there  need  be  no  disagreement  among  those  who 
read  Swedenborg's  writings  in  the  light  of  their  true  spirit 
and  philosophy. 

3.    God  as  the  Word. 

Nothing  comes  from  God  but  what  is  called,  in  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  the  WOBD  [Logos,  in  Greek].     The  Lord  does 


GOD  AND   MAN.  9 

notliing  but  as  the  Word;  just  as  nothing  comes  from  tlic 
sun  but  radiance,  and  just  as  the  sun  does  nothing  but  as  such 
radiance.  The  Word  is  actually  CJrod  Himself  in  His  omni- 
presence ;  just  as  the  radiance  is  the  sun  itself  in  its  limited 
omnipresence.  The  Word  is  Grod  in  His  goings  out,  as  it 
were,  of  Himself  and  from  Himself,  in  His  processes  of  crea- 
tion, or  of  evolving  finite  being  from  Himself;  just  as  the  radi- 
ance is  the  sun  in  its  processes  of  action  on  the  earth,  or  just 
as  the  nervous  system,  or  the  vascular  sj^stem,  is  the  brain,  or 
is  the  heart,  in  its  processes  of  creating  or  evolving  animal  tis- 
sue and  fibre,  and  thus  animal  organism.  •  The  Word  is  God 
at  work,  if  I  may  so  speak ;  just  as  the  radiance  is  the  sun  at 
work,  or  just  as  the  nerves  and  the  blood-vessels  are  the  brain 
and  the  heart  at  work.  "  By  Him  [the  Word]  were  all  things 
made,  and  without  Him  was  not  anything  made  that  was  made." 
Thus  the  Word  is  the  "  Mighty  Arm"  of  Jehovah  ;  just  as  the 
radiance  is  the  mighty  arm  of  the  sun,  or  just  as  the  nerves 
and  the  arteries  are  the  mighty  arm  of  the  brain  and  the  heart. 
To  conceive  of  God  but  as  the  Word,  is  to  conceive  of  the  sun 
without  an  efiluence,  or  the  heart  and  brain  without  arteries 
and  nerves  ;  and  this  is  to  think  of  God  without  action  or  man- 
ifestation :  and  there  is  no  such  God.  We  know  nothing  about 
God  but  as  the  Word;  just  as  we  know  nothing  about  the  sun 
but  as  it  reveals  itself  in  its  efiluence,  and  just  as  we  practi- 
cally know  nothing  about  the  heart  and  brain  but  as  they  man- 
ifest themselves  in  their  efiluence  in  arteries  and  nerves.  Let 
me  repeat,  for  it  is  a  very  important  fiict,  the  Word  is  God, 
not  at  rest,  not  with  power  stayed  and  in  reserve, — there  is  no 
such  God, — but  is  God  at  work.  When  we  have  come  to 
see  this,  and  see  it  clearly,  we  have  taken  a  most  important 
step  towards  understanding  God,  and  we  never  can  have  any 
really  true  ideas  of  Him  until  we  have  taken  this  step.  And 
how  significant  the  fiict  that  all  of  the  Lord's  "  comings"  or 
"manifestations"  to  men  have  been  as  the  Word!  It  was  as 
the  Word  finited  and  verbalized  in   Sacred    Scripture    that 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

the  Lord  many  times  came  to  tlie  Jews.  It  was  as  the  Word 
"  made  flesh"  that  He  afterwards  came  and  "  dwelt  among  us" 
as  "  God  with  us."  It  is  as  the  Word,  which  is  meant  by  the 
"  Son  of  Man,"  that  He  is  now  coming  again,  but  now  coming, 
not  as  veiled  or  clothed  in  human  language,  or  in  a  finite  per- 
sonal humanity,  but,  on  the  contrary,  as  the  unveiled  Spirit  of 
Truth  itself. 

4.    What  is  the  Word? 

Thus  it  is  as  the  Word  that  God  is  related  to  man.  What, 
then,  specifically  and  practically  is  the  Word,  and  how  does  it 
operate  with  or  in  man  ?  "  Thy  Word  is  Truth."  "  In  Him 
[the  Word]  was  Life  ;  and  the  Life  was  the  Light  of  men." 
The  Word  "  made  flesh"  said  :  "  I  am  the  Light  of  the  World ;" 
"  I  am  come  a  Light  into  the  world  ;"  also,  "  I  am  the  Way, 
the  Truth,  and  the  Life."  Swedenborg  says:  "The  Word 
is  Divine  Truth  itself."  "  Truth"—"  Life"—"  Light."  The 
Word  is  all  these.  As  Life,  the  Word,  or  God  as  the  Word, 
creates  and  sustains.  As  Truth — which  is  spiritual  Light — 
the  Word  enlightens  the  mind  and  shows  the  "  way  of  life." 
In  its  essence  the  Word  is  Love, — "  God  is  Love."  Life, 
Truth,  Light,  are  only  forms  of  operation  and  manifestation 
of  Love,  thus  of  God.  All  these,  therefore,  are  one.  They 
are  all  in  and  constitute  what  is  called  the  Word.  How  are 
they  related  to  man  ?  This  is  the  great  question.  And  I 
answer,  They  are  related  to  man  by  what  Swedenborg  calls 
"  influx  ;"  they  are  an  influx  into  man,  and  into  all  men  alike  : 
"  The  Lord,  with  all  His  Divine  Love,  with  all  His  Divine  Wis- 
dom, thus  with  all  His  Divine  Life,  flows  in  with  every  Man." 
T.  C.  11.  364. 

5.    God  as  Influx. 

Such  "  Infliix^^  then,  is  all  that  God  gives  ;  and  to  give  this 
is  all  that  He  does  for  any  man  ;  all  that  He  ever  has  done,  or 
ever  will,  or  even  can  do,  for  man.  For,  as  we  have  seen,  such 
Influx  is  the  Word  in  man,  thus  is  God  at  avork  in  man, 
and  thus  at  work  always  with  all  His  Attributesin  intensest 


GOD  AND  MAN.  11 

operation.  This,  I  mean,  so  far  as  God  is  concerned.  With 
all  men,  with  all  being,  in  fact,  He  simply  and  only  gives,  or 
is  present  as,  sucli  Influx.  Of  course,  as  we  are  all  related, 
we  receive  influx  also  "  mediately^''  or  are  aff"ected  indirectly 
by  influx  into  others  and  through  its  eff'ects  upon  them.  Swe- 
denborg  was  in  no  sense  an  exception  to  this  universal  and 
unchangeable  principle.  Like  all  other  men,  he  never  received 
anything  from  the  Lord  but  such  Influx,  or  such  presence  of 
the  Lord  as  the  Word.  And  its  operation  in  him,  so  far  as 
the  Lox-d's  agency  had  anything  to  do  with  its  operation,  was 
precisely  the  same  in  him  as  in  all  other  men. 

"  The  Life  of  God,  in  all  its  fulness,  is  not  only  with  good 
and  pious  men,  but  also  with  bad  and  impious  men  ;  in  like  man- 
ner with  the  angels  of  heaven  and  with  the  spirits  of  hell ;  the 
diff'erence  is,  that  the  bad  stop  up  the  way  and  shut  the  door, 
that  God  [that  Influx]  may  not  enter  into  the  lower  parts  of 
their  mind  ;  but  the  good  clear  out  the  way  and  open  the  door, 
and  also  invite  God  to  enter  into  the  lower  parts  of  their  minds, 
as  He  dwells  in  the  highest  parts  of  it ;  and  thus  they  form  the 
state  of  the  will  for  the  influx  of  love  and  charity  and  the  state 
of  the  understanding  for  the  influx  of  wisdom  and  faith,  con- 
sequently for  the  reception  of  God  ;  but  the  bad  obstruct  that 
influx  by  various  lusts  of  the  flesh  and  spiritual  defilements, 
which  hinder  and  stop  the  passage ;  but  still  God  resides  in 
the  highest  parts  of  them  with  all  His  Divine  essence,  and 
gives  them  the  faculty  of  willing  good  and  of  understanding- 
truth,  which  faculty  every  man  has,  but  which  he  would  not 
have  unless  life  from  God  were  in  his  soul.  That  the  bad  also 
have  this  foculty  has  been  given  me  to  know  by  much  experi- 
ence. That  every  one  receives  life  from  God  according  to 
HIS  FORM  may  be  illustrated  by  comparisons  with  vegetables 
of  every  kind.  Every  tree,  every  shrub,  every  herb,  and  every 
blade  of  grass  receives  the  influx  of  light  and  heat  according 
to  its  form ;  thus  not  only  those  which  are  of  good  use,  but 
also  those  which  are  of  evil  use,  and  the  sun  with  its  heat  does 


1 2  INTROD  VCTIOR. 

not  change  tlioir  forms,  hut  tlte  forms^  change  its  effects  in  them- 
selves. It  is  similar  with  the  subjects  of  the  mineral  kingdom  ; 
each  of  them,  as  well  the  excellent  as  the  mean,  receives  influx 
according  to  the  form  of  the  contexture  of  the  parts  among 
themselves;  and  so  one  stone  receives  it  differently  from  another 
stone,  one  mineral  differently  from  another  mineral,  and  one 
metal  diff"erently  from  another  metal.  Some  of  them  variegate 
themselves  with  most  beautiful  colors,  some  transmit  the  light 
without  variegation,  and  some  confuse  and  suff"ocate  the  light 
in  themselves.  From  these  few  cases  it  may  be  evident  that, 
as  the  sun  of  the  world,  with  its  heat  and  with  its  light,  is 
equally  present  in  one  object  as  in  another,  but  that  the  recij)- 
ieiit  forms  vary  its  operations,  so  the  Lord  from  the  sun  of 
heaven,  in  the  midst  of  which  He  is,  is  universally  present 
with  its  heat,  which  in  its  essence  is  love,  and  with  its  light, 
which  in  its  essence  is  wisdom  ;  but  that  the  form  of  man, 
which  is  induced  by  the  states  of  his  life,  varies  the  operations  ; 
consequently  that  the  Lord  is  not  the  cause  why  man  is  not 
regenerated  and  saved,  but  man  himself"     T.  C.  R.  366. 

Can  anything  be  plainer  than  this?  Does  Swedenborg any- 
where contradict  it  ?  Does  he  anywhere  say  anything  in  the 
least  qualifying  these  plain,  practical,  common-sense  state- 
ments ?  Ls  what  he  says  of  his  own  experience  at  variance 
with  them  ?  Must  not,  on  the  contrary,  all  that  he  says  of 
himself  in  his  relation  to  the  Lord  be  understood  in  the  light 
of  these  universal  and  unchangeable  principles  ?  Is  it  possible 
that  he  could  have  been,  in  any  sense,  according  to  his  own 
unmistakable  principles,  as  a  private  pupil,  receiving  special 
attention  or  special  manipulation,  as  it  were,  at  the  hands  of 
the  Lord  to  prepare  him  for  his  mission  ?  "  The  life  of  God 
is,  ill  all  its /illness,  with  all  men,  with  the  evil  equally  as  with 
the  good,  with  devils  equally  as  with  angels ;  all  the  diff"erence 
is  in  the  recipient  vessels,  the  recipient  forms."  So  far  as  the 
Lord  was  concerned,  Swedenborg  received  nothing  more  from 
Him  in  preparation  for  his  mission  than  the  wickedest  devils 


GOD   AND   MAN.  13 

of  the  wicketlest  hells  receive.  So  far  as  such  preparation  was 
eifected  by  anytliing  sjiecial  on  the  Lord's  part,  or  in  the  Lord's 
agency  in  relation  to  it,  it  was  nothing  more  tlian  every  man's 
preparation  is  for  even  the  same  mission  ;  just  as,  so  far  as  the 
preparation  of  the  oak  to  bear  acorns  is  effected  by  anything 
sjjecial  that  the  sun  does  for  it  different  from  other  trees,  it 
might  bear  chestnuts  or  apples  as  well.  So  also,  in  regard  to 
the  spirits  or  angels  and  prophets  through  whom  Sacred  Scrip- 
ture was  written, — or  the  Word  was  veiled  or  clothed  in  human 
language, — according  to  the  above  principles  or  laws  of  the 
Lord's  relation  to  man,  as  iterated  and  reiterated  throughout 
the  Writings,  they  received  nothing  from  the  Lord  different 
from  what  all  men  receive, — nothing  different  in  either  quality, 
or  measure,  or  degree  ;  they  received  nothing,  absolutely  and 
unqualifiedly  nothing,  but  that  "  Influx"  which  is  equally 
given  by  the  Lord  to  all  men.  The  holiness  of  Sacred  Scrip- 
ture, as  "  the  basis,  continent,  and  firmament"  of  the  Word, 
must  be  explained  on  an  altogether  different  principle  from 
that  of  any  variation  whatever  in  the  Lord's  agency  or  action 
in  regard  to  men  or  the  uses  of  men,  and  it  can  be,  though 
this  is  not  the  place  to  do  it. 

This  point,  then,  we  must  regard  as  eternally  and  unalterably 
settled, — namely,  that  the  Lord  gives  nothing  and  does  nothing 
for  men  but  give  them  influx  of  Himself,  of  Himself  as  the 
AVord,  thus  as  Divine  Life,  Truth,  Light,  or  Love,  with  all  the 
Divine  attributes,  just  as  the  sun  does  nothing  for  the  earth 
or  anything  on  the  earth  but  give  its  radiance,  or  itself  in  its 
effluence. 

6.  Nothing  Finite  in  Influx. 

But  what  is  in  this  Divine  Influx  ?  Are  there  ideas,  thoughts, 
principles,  doctrines  in  it?  No  more  than  there  are  acorns, 
apples,  peaches,  berries  in  the  sunbeams.  All  these  are  finite 
things.  The  Divine  Influx,  and  everything  in  it,  is  infinite. 
The  Lord  can  no  more  give  such  finite  things  than  the  sun  can 
give  fruits.     All  these  things  are  in  potency  in  the  Divine 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

Influx,  and  the  Lord  can  bring  them  out  into  actuality,  but 
only  through  the  finiting  organism  of  mind  which  has  first,  in 
its  own  order,  been  fiiiited  and  developed;  just  as  the  sun  can 
produce  fruits  only  through  the  organism  of  shrubs  and  trees, 
which  are  first  produced  in  their  order.  Finited  and  finiting 
mind  is  just  as  necessary  in  the  process  of  evolving  from  the 
Divine  Influx  ideas,  principles,  and  doctrines  as  trees  are  in 
evolving  fruits  from  the  elements  of  earth,  air,  water,  and  sun- 
shine. The  Lord  is  no  mechanic.  He  is  not  outside  of  His 
work,  as  a  mechanic  is  of  his.  He  does  nothing  by  manipula- 
tion, or  by  special  design  and  act,  as  man  does.  He  simply 
LIVES  ;  He  is  nowhere  but  inmostly  the  life  of  all  being  ;  He 
creates  by  simply  living ;  therefore  all  that  is  is  the  result,  and 
not  by  creation  according  to  a  certain  plan,  but  by  evolution 
of  what  is  eternally  reposited,  in  potency,  in  Himself.  All 
possibilities,  infinite  possibilities,  are  in  that  influx  which  every 
man  receives.  All  true  ideas,  principles,  teachings,  precepts 
of  life  are,  in  potency,  in  that  Influx  ;  but  they  can  be  evolved 
or  brought  out  into  actuality  only  by  the  conditions  supplied 
by  already  finited  mind.  For  all  these  are  the  fruits  of  finite 
tliouglit.  And  God  does  not  think  as  man  thinks, — that  is,  does 
not  think  finitely^  thus,  does  not  ultimate  ideas  and  words  : 
"  For  my  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  are  your 
ways  my  ways,  saith  the  Lord.  For  as  the  heavens  are  higher 
than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ways  higher  than  your  ways,  and  my 
thoughts  than  your  thoughts." 

When  Swedenborg  says,  therefore,  that  "  the  Lord  prepared 
him  for  his  mission,"  "  opened  the  sight  of  his  spirit,"  "  com- 
manded him  what  to  write,"  "  dictated  to  him,"  and  the  like, — 
also  that  "  he  was  only  an  humble  instrument  to  do  the  Lord's 
work,"  that  "  he  did  not  act  of  himself  but  from  the  Lord,"  and 
that  the  revelations  which  he  made  were  not  his,  but  the  Lord's 
through  him, — we  are  not  to  understand  him  as  saying  anything 
in  contradiction  of  his  own  teachings,  or  of  the  spirit  and  phi- 
losophy of  his  own  principles ;  we  are  not  to  understand  him  as 


GOD  AND   MAN.  15 

making  his  own  case  an  exception  to  the  inimutahle  principles 
hiid  down  in  tlie  paragraph  above  quoted  from  tlic  "  True  Chris- 
tian Religion  ;"  we  are  not  to  understand  him  as  receiving  any- 
thing whatever,  or  in  any  sense  or  way,  from  the  Lord,  but 
that  "  Influx  of  Divine  Truth"  which  is  equally  given  to  all 
men.  God  is  in  that  Influx  "preparing,"  "commanding," 
"  dictating,"  "  impelling,"  and  the  like,  but  with  no  difference 
as  regards  men  as  subjects  of  Influx.  Swedcnborg's  language, 
as  regards  the  LjOrd's  relation  to  him,  must  be  interpreted  by 
the  unchangeable  principles  so  plainly  laid  down  in  his  writ- 
ings as  regards  the  Lord's  relation  to  all  men  alike.  Sweden- 
borg  was,  in  no  sense,  an  exceptional  expedient  in  the  hands 
of  the  Lord  to  meet  an  emergency.  Tbe  Lord  has  no  expedi- 
ents and  never  resorts  to  any.  Every  emergency  is  met,  and 
instantly,  by  the  normal  operation  of  the  Divine  Influx  ;  for 
there  is  in  eveiy  moments  operation  of  that  Influx,  Infinite 
Wisdom,  Infinite  Providence,  Infinite  Power,  or,  if  I  may  so 
speak,  infinite  and  constant  expediency.  To  make  Sweden- 
borg,  according  to  the  views  of  some,  an  extraordinary  or  ex- 
ceptional expedient  would  be  to  make  God,  so  far,  a  finite 
being.  On  the  contrary,  Swedenborg  was  simply  and  only 
the  noble,  normal  fruit  of  certain  recipient  conditions  and  of 
the  same  Divine  Influx  into  those  conditions  that  flows  into 
all  conditions.  The  diff"erence  is,  he  "  cleared  out  the  way  and 
opened  the  door,  and  also  invited  God  to  enter  into  the  lower 
parts  of  his  mind  as  He  dwelt  in  the  highest  parts  of  it ;  and 
thus  he  formed  the  state  of  his  will  for  the  influx  of  love  and 
charity,  and  the  state  of  his  understanding  for  the  influx  of 
wisdom  and  faith,  consequently  for  the  reception  of  God," — he 
did  these  things  as  others  did  not  do.  It  was  this  and  not 
anything  different  in  the  Divine  Influx,  or  in  what  the  Lord 
gave  him  or  did  for  him,  that  made  his  case  exceptional  or 
different  from  that  of  other  men. 


1 6  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

7.  Misfahes  and  Uxjjedicnfs. 

But  a  few  words  more  on  "  Divine  expediency,"  as  this  is  a 
point  of  such  vital  importance  and  is  so  generally  misunder- 
stood. There  are  really  no  mistakes,  no  deficiencies,  no  fail- 
ures in  God's  operations,  when  we  understand  them  truly;  and 
hence  no  resort  to  expedients  in,  as  it  were,  unexpected  emer- 
gencies. Infinite  Wisdom  and  Infinite  Providence  never  re- 
quire, and  never  resort  to,  expedients.  We  see  this  fact  exem- 
plified in  everything,  even  in  Nature.  The  acorn,  with  God  in 
it, — that  is,  with  Life  in  it,  and  God  inmostly  in  that  life, — 
is  sure,  in  the  required  conditions,  to  create  or  evolve  an  oak, 
and  everything  that  belongs  to  an  oak ;  under  proper  condi- 
tions it  cannot  possibly  fail  to  do  so.  So  of  every  other  germ 
of  life.  And  this  is  because  it  is  an  ofishoot  from  the  Divine 
Life,  and  because  the  Divine  is  still  operating  in  it  as  its  vital- 
izing and  evolving  force  or  power.  Hence, — and  this  is  the 
point, — if  an  injury  befalls  the  developing  organism,  as,  for 
example,  a  wound  in  the  flesh  or  the  fracture  of  a  bone,  the 
remedy  is  instantly  at  hand  and  in  operation,  and  simply  as  the 
normal  result  of  life  continued  under  the  circumstances  or  in 
the  clianged  conditions. 

So  wonderfully  perfect  is  life  in  Nature,  which  is  God — God 
as  the  Word — working,  so  to  speak,  in  "  ultimates."  Such  life 
cannot  act  imperfectly ;  it  cannot  fail,  either  in  wisdom,  provi- 
dence, or  power,  on  its  plane  or  in  its  degree ;  for  all  these  are 
always  in  its  every  moment's  action  as  life.  How  much  more 
perfect,  if  possible,  must  be  life  above  Nature,  the  Infinite 
Life  itself,  as  not  subject  to  the  limitations  of  Nature !  How 
spontaneously  and  at  once  remedy  must  follow  on  the  heels  of 
injury,  and  this  without  anything  like  a  resort  to  expedients, 
but  simply  from  the  fact  that  such  is  the  normal  operation 
of  life,  on  every  plane  of  life,  in  the  changed  conditions,  thus 
simply  from  the  fact,  not  that  God  devises  and  does  something 
difierent  as  an  expedient,  but  that  He  lives,  or  that  He  Him- 


GOD   AND   MAN.  17 

self  is  Life.  Oli,  ■what  an  infinite  %yorkl  tliere  is  in  that  one 
little  word  Life  !  It  contains  everything ;  everything  is  in  it 
in  potency  or  possibility ;  expediency  even  is  one  of  tlie  features 
of  its  normal  operation  as  Life. 

So,  in  what  is  called  the  "  Fall,"  God  did  not  take  cogni- 
zance of  it  as  a  condition  unexpected,  and  thus  unprovided 
for,  in  any  such  sense  as  man  takes  cognizance  of  like  things, 
and  then  devise  and  apply  a  remedy.  Infinitely  far  from  it. 
God  was  unaffected  and  unchanged  in  any  sense  or  manner 
whatever,  so  far  as  He  or  what  He  did  in  His  own  absolute 
action  was  concerned.  It  was  simply  the  result  of  the  con- 
tinued operation  of  His  Life  as  Life,  but  as  varied  in  its  oper- 
ation by  the  changed  conditions^  that  was  the  remedy  or  the 
expedient.  And  this  has  always  been  so  in  every  stage  of 
man's  "  decline,"  in  every  changing  phase  of  his  relation  to 
God.  What  God  has  absolutely  done  has  never  varied  because 
of  man's  condition, — except  in  the  sense  in  which  its  operation 
has  been  varied  by  that  condition, — but  has  been  unchangeably 
the  same ;  just  as  is  the  case  with  the  sun  in  its  relation  to 
earth.  The  sun  sends  out,  as  it  were,  the  same  beams — what- 
ever happens  to  the  recipient — day  and  night,  summer  and 
winter,  and  into  the  rose  as  into  the  nightshade,  into  the  des- 
ert as  into  the  green  meadow,  and  in  the  calm  as  in  the  tem- 
pest; and  just  as  the  heart  also  sends  its  life  equally  into  the 
diseased  as  into  the  healthy  organ.  The  acting  principle,  or 
the  influx  ffivn,  is  in  each  case  the  same.  But  the  results  are 
not  the  same  ;  these  depend  upon  the  recipient.  The  condition 
of  the  recipient  in  all  cases  modifies  the  action,  and  thus  the 
effects  of  the  action  of  the  influx.  How  strikingly  this  is  the 
ca.se  as  regards  the  blood,  also  the  nerve-fluid,  in  their  relation 
to  diseased  and  healthy  organism !  They  change  not,  because 
of  the  condition  of  the  recipient  organism,  but  the  results  of 
their  action  are  very  different  because  varied  by  the  condi- 
tion of  the  organism. 

2* 


1 8  INTROD  UCTION. 

8.    God  Unchangeahle. 

So  of  that  All-creating  Life,  the  Word,  God,  with  Whom 
"  is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turning;"  that  Life  has 
not  changed,  has  not  itself  modified  its  own  action,  during  all 
the  successive  stages  of  creation,  during  all  the  successive 
phases  of  developing  humanity.  God  has  always  been  giving 
the  same  and  doing  the  same, — the  same  in  quality  and  the 
same  also  in  amount  and  energy, — and  not  at  one  time  more 
and  at  another  time  less.  The  variety  in  evolved  or  ultimated 
form,  is  owing  to  the  fact  of  the  infinite  potencies  in  Him  as 
Life,  and  of  the  difi"erent  degrees  or  distances,  so  to  speak,  of 
evolution  from  Him.  As  He  continues  to  he,  and  from  this 
cause  alone,  one  thing  after  another  comes  out,  as  it  were,  from 
Him  into  ultimated  or  evolved  form,  and  without  anything  like 
resorting  to  expedients  under  emergencies :  perfect  wisdom,  I 
repeat,  requires  no  expedients.  His  revealing  Himself  in 
Sacred  Scripture  even,  was  not  an  expedient,  neither  was  His 
Incarnation  an  expedient ;  it  was  no  more  an  expedient  than 
the  shooting  out  of  a  branch,  or  the  coming  of  a  leaf  or  a 
flower,  or  the  development  of  the  teeth  or  of  the  beard,  in  the 
order  of  growth,  is  an  expedient ;  no  more  an  expedient  than 
is  the  modified  action  of  the  blood  in  a  wounded  muscle  or 
fractured  bone,  or  in  no  other  sense  than  that  in  which  such 
modified  action  is  an  expedient;  in  all  which  cases  it  is  the 
normal  action  as  modified  by  recipient  conditions  themselves. 
There  is  everything  in  the  normal,  unchanging  action  of  life 
for  every  emergency.  It  is  the  nature  of  all  life,  from  the 
purely  Divine  clear  down  to  the  lowest  degree  of  the  finitely 
evolved  life,  to  ultimate  itself  in  successively  lower  and  lower 
forms,  and  then  to  act,  with  modified  results,  through  these 
forms  as  recipient  and  modifying  vessels. 

The  great  fact  which  I  am  endeavoring  to  make  plain  is 
that  God,  the  Word,  the  Absolute  Life,  is  in  Himself,  is  in 
the  very  operation  of  Himself  as  Life,  such  fulness  and  per- 


GOD   AND   MAN.  19 

fection  in  all-creative  energy,  wisdom,  providence,  and  power 
that  all  that  He  does  or  needs  to  do  is  to  live  ;  and  all  that  is, 
is  the  result;  just  as  all  that  the  finitely  evolved  principle  of 
His  life  in  the  seed  or  egg  does,  or  needs  to  do,  is  to  live,  and 
the  plant  or  animal  is  the  result. 

9.  God  is  Love. 

God  is  Love,  or  Love,  in  its  real  essential  nature,  is  God. 
There  is,  indeed,  no  God  but  God  as  Love.  Life  is  simply 
Love  acting,  Love  living.  The  Word  is  Love  creating,  or 
evolving  and  ultimating  itself  in  lower  forms ;  is  Love  cloth- 
ing itself  with  a  body ;  is  Love  revealing  itself,  and  all  this  as 
a  result  of  the  fact  of  its  living,  or  of  its  being  Life ;  or  is 
Love  shining  as  ligltt,  and  hence  is  called  Divine  Truth,  which 
is  Divine,  spiritual  light.  The  Love  I  speak  of  is  infinitely 
more  than  an  affection,  and  so  much  more  that  it  is  the  entity 
or  Divine  substance  from  which  all  substance,  whether  spirit- 
ual or  natural,  is  derived ;  it  is,  indeed,  "  all  in  all,"  so  that  if 
it  were  withdrawn  from  all,  nothing  would  remain.  Hence 
everything  that  is  is  only  a  phase  or  manifestation  of  Love, 
thus  of  God.  Hence  everything  is  /nil  of  Love,  thus  full  of 
God,  as  the  body  is  full  of  the  soul. 

10.  JVot  Outside. 

All  that  is,  therefore,  is  God's  dwelling-place,  God's  "  tab- 
ernacle," but  in  diff"erent  degrees,  from  Nature,  as  His  "outer 
court,"  to  regenerated  angelic  mind — rather  to  the  "  Divine 
Humanity" — as  His  "  inmost  sanctuary,"  His  "  Holy  of  Holies." 
God  as  Love,  as  the  Word,  as  Divine  Truth,  as  all-pervading, 
omnipresent  Life,  operates  with  infinite  wisdom,  providence, 
and  power  within  us,  always  within  vs,  never  and  nowhere 
outside  of  us,  except  through  others  in  relation  to  us :  "  Be- 
hold, the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  Nothing  but  God's 
foot-stool,  nothing  but  His  materialized  expression,  or  Love 
materialized,  so   to  speak,  nothing  but  the  evolved  efi"ects  of 


20  INTR  OD  UC'TIO  N. 

the  operation  of  the  Divine  Life,  is  outside  of  us.  It  is  vain 
for  us  to  look  for  Him  or  think  of  Him  outside  of  us.  We 
err  most  sadly  when  we  think  of  God  as  being  outside  of  any 
being.  Everything  outside  is  finite.  There  is  no  God  outside, 
any  more  than  there  is  heart,  or  brain,  or  soul  outside  the  little 
world  of  the  body.  God  would  not  be  God  outside,  but  a 
mere  manifestation  of  God,  as  the  body  is  of  the  heart,  or 
brain,  or  soul.  God  lives  in  His  kingdom — the  soul  of  man — 
as  a  King  lives  in  his  kingdom  ;  more  truly,  as  the  soul  lives  in 
its  kingdom,  the  body.  All  that  is  outside,  I  repeat,  is  but  a 
MANIFESTATION  of  God.  The  whole  universe  is  but  such 
manifestation  of  God.  But  the  universe  is  no  more,  for  that 
cause,  God  than  the  body  is  the  man. 

1 1 .  Ma  n  ifestations. 

But  God's  manifestations  or  appearings  of  Himself, — what, 
in  reality,  are  they?  How  do  they  diifer  from  Himself?  How 
does  the  body,  which  is  a  manifestation  of  the  man,  dift'er  from 
the  man  ?  Yet  the  cases  are  not  quite  parallel.  The  body 
exists,  is  evolved  directly  from  what  is  within,  as  an  effect 
directly  representing  a  cause  within.  So  is  the  universe  and 
everything  in  it  and  of  it,  as  an  effect  in  relation  to  God  as  the 
cause.  It  came  from  God  as  an  effect  from  its  cause.  But 
there  are  Divine  manifestations  or  appearances  of  another  kind 
which  depend  upon,  and  are  characterized  by,  the  stafen  of 
those  persons  before  whom  they  take  place.  The  former  mani- 
festations are  made  to  all  men,  though  with  a  difference ;  the 
latter  to  comparatively  few.  This  is  the  kind  of  which  Swe- 
denborg  speaks  as  being  made  to  him.  What  is  the  real  nature 
of  this  kind  of  manifestation  ?  Did  God,  in  any  sense,  or  in 
the  least  degree,  absolutely  vaiy  in  what  He  did  from  what 
He  always  does,  as  the  cause  of  such  manifestations  ?  We  see 
from  the  views  we  have  given  of  God  from  Sacred  Scripture 
and  from  the  writings  that  such  variation  was  simply  impossi- 
ble and  absurd.     We   cannot  yield  a  particle  in  our  view  of 


GOD  AND   MAN.  21 

God's  absolute  unchangeableness, — unchangeablencss  as  well 
in  what  he  absolutely  does  as  in  what  he  is.  If  He  manifested 
Himself  to  Swcdenborg, — as  we  doubt  not  He  did,  as  He  does 
also  to  the  angels, — the  cause  of  such  manifestation  and  of  every- 
thing in  it  as  a  manifestation,  was  entirely  and  exclusively  in 
Swedenborg's  own  state.  It  was  his  state,  and  nothing  else, 
that  made  such  manifestation  possible  and  that  brought  it 
about.  Its  peculiar  quality  and  character  were  in  him  as  the 
cause.  God  is  really  no  more  present  in  such  peculiar  mani- 
festations than  He  is  when  the  states  of  men  are  such  that  they 
do  not  take  place.     Can  God  be  more  than  omnipresent? 

How,  then,  does  God  manifest  Himself  to  man  ?  Swcden- 
borg says :  "  I  can  sacredly  and  solemnly  declare  that  the 
Lord  Himself  has  been  seen  of  me."  Again  :  "  The  Lord, 
our  Savior,  has  manifested  Himself  to  me  in  a  sensible  per- 
sonal appearance."  In  view  of  the  real  character  of  what  we 
call  God,  and  of  what  we  are  taught  about  him  in  Sacred 
Scripture  and  in  the  Writings, — for  we  rest  upon  His  character 
as  the  Word  and  Swedenborg  give  it  to  us, — how  could  this 
be  ?  and  what  does  it  mean  ?  Mark,  it  was  the  Lord  our 
Savior  that  was  seen  of  him,  or  that  manifested  Himself  to 
him.  And  Swedenborg  adds,  in  close  context  with  the  first 
citation  above,  that  "  the  Lord  opened  and  enlightened  the 
interior  part  of  his  soul." 

Who  is  "  the  Lord  our  Savior"  ?  We  all  agree  that  He  is 
identically  that  same  God,  the  Word,  the  Life,  the  Divine 
Truth  "  brought  forth  to  view,"  of  which  I  have  been  speak- 
ing. And  are  we  not  all  agreed  that  God  in  Himself  never 
changes,  any  more  than  the  sun,  or  the  radiance  from  the  sun, 
changes?  Like  Sacred  Scripture,  "the  Lord  our  Saviour"  is 
God  the  Word  clothed^  God  the  Word  mediating,  or  God  the 
Word  with  His  eternally  unchanging  and  unchangeable  action 
modified  and  varied  by  the  recipient  medium  in  a~nd  through 
which  His  action  takes  place.  Sacred  Scripture  is  the  result  of 
such  modified  action.    The  Word  "  made  flesh"  is  the  result  of 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

such  modified  action.  I  mean  that  neither  the  Word  made 
Sacred  Scripture  nor  the  Word  made  flesh  is  the  result  of  spe- 
cific design  and  purpose,  and  then  of  changed  or  modified  action, 
on  the  part  of  God ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  is  the  result 
only  and  solely  of  the  Divine  Influx  into  modifying  condi- 
tions ;  hence  that  the  changed  conditions  are  the  responsible 
cause  of  any  appearance  of  change  on  the  part  of  the  Divine ; 
just  as  any  apparent  change  in  the  action  or  manifestations  of 
the  sunlight  is  owing  entirely  to  changed  recipient  conditions, 
and  just  as  light  entering  the  eye  is  of  one  color  or  another,  or 
is  painful  or  pleasant,  exactly  according  to  the  condition  of  the 
eye.  So  the  Word,  whether  clothed  in  finite  teachings  and 
human  language  or  in  an  external  personal  humanity,  is  not 
really  the  result  of  any  diff"erence  in  the  Divine  action  or 
purpose  any  more  than  the  light,  as  colored  and  shaded  by 
clouds  or  by  a  smoky  atmosphere,  is  the  result  of  any  dif- 
ferent action  of  the  sun.  The  common  ideas  of  God,  finite 
Him  and  make  Him  a  being  of  resorts  and  expedients,  when 
these  are  all  mere  a'ppearances,  when  the  fact  is,  that  His 
unfailing,  normal,  unchangeable  action  is  infinite  perfection 
itself,  under  whatever  changes,  conditions,  or  circumstances  ; 
as  it  is  the  action  of  infinite  love  itself,  it  flows,  in  the  infinite 
wisdom  and  providence  and  power  and  Love,  in  all  conditions 
and  under  all  circumstances — and  spontaneously  does  so — for 
the  ends  of  Love.  That  is  to  say,  we  have  the  Word  made  mani- 
fest in  Sacred  Scripture  or  in  a  fleshly  personality,  not  because 
God  saw  the  changed  condition  of  man,  and  saw,  therefore, 
that  such  was  man's  need,  but  because  that  was  the  spon- 
taneous result  of  His  absolutely  and  eternally  unchanged 
normal  action  as  modijicdhy  changed  conditions.  So  infinitely 
full  of  every  attribute  of  the  Divine  Natui-e,  even  of  resorts 
and  expedients  as  it  were,  is  every  moment's  action  of  the 
Divine  Life.  It  was  the  continued  flowing  of  God  as  the 
Word  into  man's  changed  condition — in  other  words,  it  was 
the  continued  living  of  God  as  God — that  resulted,  under  the 


GOD  AND   MAN.  23 

changed  modifying  conditions,  in  Sacred  Scripture,  and  after- 
wards in  the  Incarnation.  And  how  wonderful  and  how  full  of 
love  and  wisdom  and  providence  the  fact  that  these  apparent — 
not  real — changes  in  God  were  exactly  what  man  needed,  and 
without  which  he  could  not  have  continued  to  exist  as  man, 
but  would  have  relapsed  to  a  condition  worse  than  that  of  the 
beasts  ! 

Again,  we  ask,  what  does  Swedenborg  mean  when  he  says 
that  "  the  Lord  manifested  Himself  before  him  in  a  sensible 
personal  appearance"  ?  Does  he  mean  that  the  Lord  was 
finited  out  into  external  shape  and  actually  stood  before  him 
somewhat  as  He  had  stood  before  the  disciples  ?  No  one  can 
think  this  who  has  any  true  thought  of  the  Lord  as  He  is  rep- 
resented by  Swedenborg.  It  was  not  such  a  finited  presentation 
of  the  Lord.  Swedenborg  does  not  say  this.  Rather,  it  was 
a  "manifestation,"  or  "sensible  personal  appearance." 
And  was  this  appearance  really  and  purely  the  Lord  ?  Was 
it  only  what  was  divine  ?  or  was  it  not,  on  the  contrary,  the 
Lord  as  the  Word,  as  living  Divine  Truth,  clothed  and  finited 
into  external  visible  appearance  hy  what  was  in  Swedenhory  s 
own  mind,  in  like  manner  as  is  the  case  with  the  angels,  to 
whom  things  appear  objectively  or  outside  themselves,  when, 
in  reality,  there  are  no  such  things  outside,  but  they  so  apjiear 
from  what  is  in  the  angels  themselves?  Swedenborg  says  that 
"  in  the  other  life,  by  virtue  of  the  light  communicated  from 
a  celestial  and  spiritual  origin  by  the  Lord,  there  are  sensibly 
exhibited  to  the  sight  of  spirits  and  angels  most  astonishing 
scenes, — as  paradisiacal  gardens,  cities,  palaces,  habitations, 
besides  other  objects."  A.  C.  1534.  '•  The  very  celestial  and 
spiritual  of  the  Lord,"  again,  he  saj's,  "  manifests  itself  by 
light  before  the  external  sight  of  the  angels  ;"  but  the  degree  in 
which  the  light  is  received  is  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  the 
celestial  and  spiritual  with  the  angels,  and  the  quality  of  the 
light  is  according  to  the  quality  of  that  celestial  and  spiritual. 

This  is  brimful  of  si<rnificance  in  connection  with  our  sub- 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

joct,  as  also  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  the  Lord  appears 
to  the  celestial  angels  as  a  sun,  but  to  the  spiritual  angels  as  a 
moon.  A.  C.  1529.  Swedcnborg  says  that,  "In  order  that  he 
might  be  confirmed  in  this,  his  interior  vision  was  so  for  opened, 
and  he  saw  plainly  the  moon  shining."  And  this  means,  of 
course,  not  that  there  was  actually  a  spiritual  moon,  or  the 
Lord  as  such  moon,  outside  of  him,  but  that  in  the  state  in 
which  he  then  was  the  Lord  manifested  Himself  to  him,  and 
thus  appeared  outside  of  him,  as  a  moon.  We  read  in  Sacred 
Scripture  that  the  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God,  and  that  the 
Lord  will  manifest  Himself  to  those  who  keep  His  command- 
ments. It  was  because  Swedenborg  kept  His  commandments 
that,  as  a  result  of  the  consequent  processes  of  regeneration, 
the  "  interior  part  of  his  soul  was  opened  and  enlightened."  so 
that  he  saw  the  Lord,  but  saw  Him,  just  as  the  angels  do,  "ac- 
cording to  the  degree  and  quality  of  the  celestial  and  spiritual 
in  himself."  According  to  his  own  teachings,  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  him  to  see  the  Lord,  or  have  the  Lord  appear  or 
manifest  Himself  to  him  in  any  other  way,  or  for  any  other 
cause  than  that  depending  on  his  own  state  as  a  recipient  of 
the  Divine  Influx.  In  no  case  has  the  Lord  ever  appeared  to 
man  or  angel  as  He  really  is  ;  it  has  always  been  only  a  mani- 
festation, and  that  even  only  as  measured,  limited,  and  qualified 
by  the  state  of  him  before  whom  the  manifestation  took  place. 
In  no  case  has  such  manifestation  been  purely  God,  but  always 
God  clothed,  or,  which  is  the  same,  the  Word,  or  God  as  Di- 
vine Truth  clothed ;  just  as  is  the  case  with  the  sun  as  it 
appears  to  the  eye, — it  is  the  sun  clothed  by  the  earth's  atmos- 
phere and  by  the  things  or  state  of  the  eye,  though  the  cases 
are  not  exactly  parallel,  for  the  Lord  is  really  within,  while  the 
sun  is  outside.  We  must  not  forget  the  fact  that  all  of  the 
Lord's  comings  have  been  simply  manifestations  of  Himself  as 
the  Word,  thus  as  Divine  Truth.  Thus  Swedenborg  says  :  "  To 
the  end  that  the  Lord  might  be  constantly  present,  He  has  dis- 
closed to  me  the  spiritual  sense  of  Ilis  Word  in  which  Divine 


GOD  AND   MAN.  25 

Triitli  is  in  its  liglit,  and  hi  tJii'.s  He  is  conthninU ij  present." 
That  is  to  say,  the  Lord  is  continually  present  only  in  the 
working,  operating,  or  creating  phase  or  aspect  of  Ilis  nature 
as  the  Word.,  and  mcDufcatly  so  only  as  the  Word,  as  h'chig 
Light,  or  as  it  really  shhitH  in  the  interiors  of  a  mind  opened 
by  regeneration.  And  the  Lord  is  present  thus  only  "  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  and  quality  of  the  celestial  and  spiritual  with 
man."  And  this  shows  that  the  manifestations  or  personal 
appearing-s  of  the  Lord  are,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
never  the  same  to  two  persons,  nor  to  the  same  person  twice 
alike,  so  much  does  qualifying  state  have  to  do  with  them. 
And  this  suggests  the  question  of  God's  personality — what 
is  it? 

12.    God's  PcrsonalitT/. 

Is  there  a  "  personal  God"  ?  We  answer,  yes.  But,  then, 
what  is  meant  by  person  ?  Does  it  necessarily  imply  limited 
outline,  figure,  shape  ?  We  answer,  no.  God  does  not  exist 
as  person  in  any  such  finite,  external  sense,  though  He  so  man- 
ifests Himself,  as  we  have  seen  above.  God,  in  His  absolute, 
unfinited,  unrevealed,  or  unmanifested  nature,  is  not  person  in 
any  such  gross  sense  of  the  word.  It  is  true  Swedcnborg 
says  that  "  God,  being  Man,  has  a  body  and  everything  be- 
longing to  it."  D.  L.  and  W.  18.  But  does  he  mean  by  this 
that  God  has  such  body,  with  all  its  organs  and  members,  in 
actual,  outwardly  developed  shape  or  form  ?  Does  he  mean 
that  God  has  eyes  with  which  to  look  out  upon  external  things, 
as  we  do,  and  ears  to  hear  audible  sounds,  as  we  hear  ?  Of 
course  not.  He  only  means  that  God  has  all  these,  everything, 
in  fact,  that  belongs  to  the  whole  universe,  in  latency,  or  in 
first  principles,  or  in  the  possibilities  from  which  all  things  are ; 
like  as  the  seed  or  the  egg  contains  all  the  possibilities  of  the 
future  plant  or  bird.  God  consists  of  infinite  possibilities ;  the 
universe  consists  of  these  possibilities  developed  and  develop- 
ing into  actualities.  What  Swedcnborg  means  by  the  above  is 
evident  from  what  he  says  in  "  Arcana  Coelestia,"  38G9,  namely, 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

"  That  Jehovah  has  neither  ears  nor  eyes  as  man  has  is  known, 
but  ear  and  eye  signify  an  attribute  predicable  of  the  Divine, 
namely,  infinite  will  and  infinite  intelligence.  Infinite  will  is 
Providence,  and  infinite  intelligence  is  foresight ;  this  is  what 
ear  and  eye  mean,  in  the  supreme  sense,  when  attributed  to 
Jehovah."  Of  course  the  "  body,  and  everything  that  belongs 
to  it,"  has  each  a  corresponding  supreme  meaning  as  applied 
to  the  Lord.  Thus  it  is  in  an  infinitely  higher  sense  than  that 
which  applies  to  us  that  God  is  person.  And  yet  God  is  not 
simply  diffused  being,  like  air  or  light.  On  the  contrary,  there 
are  in  Him  all  the  essentials  in  their  beginnings  or  potencies 
■which,  when  ultimated  in  their  most  perfect  form,  constitute 
personal  man  and  angel, — constitute,  in  fact,  the  personal  man- 
ifestations of  the  God-Man.  Man  is  really  man — finitely,  per- 
sonal man — only  because  God,  of  whom  he  is  the  image  and 
likeness,  is  Divinely  and  Infinitely  personal  Man,  Man  in  first 
principles  or  infinite  possibilities.  We  must  not  think  of  man 
even  as  person,  because  he  has  limited  figure  or  shape,  and 
visible  organs  and  members,  though  we  cannot  think  of  him 
without  these,  for  these  are  not  what  make  man  man  or  con- 
stitute him  personal  being.  It  is  because  we  do  not  think  of 
God  thus  that  we  are  bewildered  about  His  personality.  How 
can  Omnipresence  have  such  limited  and  defined  personality  ? 
No  wonder  the  sensible  scientist  denies  a  "  personal  God."  It 
is  contrary  to  true  manhood  reason  to  suppose  that  Infinity 
and  Omnipresence  are  in  such  externally  visible  and  meas- 
urable shape.  God's  manifestations  of  Himself,  or  His  ap- 
pearings  to  men,  are  a  totally  diflFerent  matter.  These  are  due, 
as  I  have  shown,  to  what  is  in  man  as  a  finite  and  finiting 
recipient  vessel.  What  flows  in  takes  i\\Gfonn  of  the  vessel 
into  u'Jiich  it  floics.  Out  of  Christ,  or  Deity,  as  clothed  and 
manifested  in  finite  humanity,  it  is  impossible  to  think  of  God 
but  vaguely  and  absolutely.  Out  of  Christ,  we  can  think  of 
God  only  as  Love,  Wisdom,  Power,  Providence. 

But  what  is  it  that  really  constitutes  personality  ?     What  is 


OOD  AND  MAN.  27 

it  that  makes  man  even  a  personal  being  ?  What  is  it  that 
makes  you  a  different  person  from  me?  Is  it  your  figure, 
your  length,  the  shape  of  your  head,  the  form  of  your  limbs 
and  features  ?  Is  not  man  even,  a  person  only  in  virtue  of 
those  inherent  qualities  and  capacities  of  which  the  body,  con- 
sisting of  organs  and  members,  is  the  ultimated  form  ?  Is  it  not 
these, — these  qualities  and  capacities, — rather  than  anything 
relating  to  shape  or  figure,  or  anything  manifested  to  external 
sense,  that  constitute  man's  personality,  that  give  him  identity 
and  individuality,  that  make  him  different,  personally,  from 
every  other  being,  from  every  other  man,  in  fact?  And  this 
is  the  ground  on  which  God  is  person  ;  it  is  His  quality.  His 
potency,  is  that  which  constitutes  His  peculiar  identity  and 
individuality,  as  differing  from  those  of  all  other  beings.  And 
thus  for  man  to  be  in  Gods  image  and  likeness  is  to  be  so,  not 
in  outward  form,  but  in  inward  quality  and  character,  is  to  be 
so  in  that  which  really  makes  him  man.  Outward,  personal 
form  cannot  be  predicated  of  the  Divine  Being,  out  of  Christ, 
His  finite,  personal  manifestation  of  Himself,  any  more  than 
it  can  of  Life,  or  Truth,  or  Love,  or  Light,  and  these,  we  have 
seen,  are  just  what  God  is  in  His  real  nature. 

The  common  views  of  God  as  a  personal  being  belong  to  a 
darker  age  than  that  in  which  we  are  now  living, — belong  to  a 
low,  sensuous,  Israelitish  state  of  mind.  When  we  have,  by 
regeneration,  risen  above  that  merely  natural,  external  view  of 
God,  we  shall  find  Him  risen, — risen  in  our  truer  conceptions 
of  Him, — "  we  shall  wonder  how  we  could  ever  have  been  con- 
tent with  a  mere  finite,  personal  manifestation  of  Him,  a  being 
so  much  like  ourselves,  a  being  outside  of  us  and  listening  and 
influenced  by  our  selfish  prayers,  and  pleased  by  our  fulsome 
praises  !  We  shall  have  no  less  a  personal  God  than  before  ; 
we  shall  not  think  of  Him  any  the  less  in  His  personal  numi- 
festation  ;  but  we  shall  think  more  of  Him  as  that  of  which 
such  manifestation  is  comparatively  only  as  the  shadow. 
There  will  be  all  the  difference  between  our  outgrown  personal 


28  INTRODUCTION. 

God — if  I  may  so  speak  without  being  misunderstood — and  our 
found  or  risen  personal  Grod,  risen  in  our  truer  conceptions  of 
Him,  that  there  is  between  the  mere  child's  personal  man,  as 
the  child  conceives  of  him,  and  the  scientist's  and  Christian 
philosopher's  personal  man.  The  child  takes  cognizance  of 
only  external  form,  of  only  figure  and  shape.  The  scientific, 
Christian  philosopher  sees  a  world  within  and  above  what  the 
eye  sees.  So  you  will  see  within  and  above  the  manifested 
personality  of  your  risen  God  that  which  makes  Him  all  that 
He  is  to  you  and  all  that  He  is  to  the  universe,  as  the  in- 
finitely present,  infinitely  potent,  infinitely  wise,  and  infinitely 
active  cause  and  source  of  all  being.  You  will  recognize  a 
personality  that  perpetually  fills  the  heavens,  fills  the  universe 
of  universes,  in  fact,  but  which  manifests  itself,  or  becomes 
manifest  to  each  individual  man  or  angel,  only  exactly  accord- 
ing to  his  state." — Author  s  sermon,  "  He  is  Hiscn." 

13.    Omnipresence. 

And  with  this  view  of  God's  personality  His  Omnipresence 
is  divested  of  all  its  absurdity  and  mystery.  With  former 
views  of  personality  we  never  could  conceive  of  the  Divine 
Omnipresence.  We  cannot  conceive  otherwise  than  of  God's 
absolute  presence  everywhere,  but  present  never  and  nowhere 
without,  but  always  and  everywhere  within,  present  as  life  is 
present  within  the  body.  For  this,  as  we  have  seen,  is  just 
what  God  is,  and,  with  its  attributes,  all  that  God  is, — He  is 
Life.  It  is  as  Life,  and  only  as  Life,  that  He  creates  and  sus 
tains  and  governs ;  and  it  is  only  by  actual  presence  that  He 
does  these  things.  He  does  nothing.  He  exercises  no  power, 
but  by  His  actual,  tangible,  inmost  presence  in  the  subjects  of 
His  operations  and  power.  We  see  it  now,  and  see  plainly, 
that  it  is  only  as  God  works  in  us  as  the  soul  in  the  body  that 
He  gives  us  life  and  being;  and  we  see  how  necessarily  it  de- 
pends upon  our  state  of  recipiency  whether  the  operations  of 
His  presence  within  us  give  us  pleasure  or  pain,  joy  or  sorrow. 


QOD  AND   MAN.  29 

For  lie  as  the  Divine  Life  is  always  present  within  wliat  we 
call  our  life,  as  the  heart  life  and  brain  life  are  within  the 
tissues  of  the  body.  If  such  Divine  Life  ever  gives  pain  or 
sorrow,  it  is  only  when,  from  transgressing  the  laws  of  life,  we 
have  become  diseased,  and  the  cause  of  the  pain  or  sorrow  is 
simply  owing  to  the  persistent  effort  of  the  Divine  Life  to  re- 
move the  disease,  just  as  it  is  with  the  body  in  a  diseased  con- 
dition ;  its  pain  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  life  from  the  heart 
and  brain  in  the  diseased  organism,  and  in  actual  effort  to  re- 
move the  disease.  It  is  not  because  (rod  has  left  us  that  we 
suffer, — He  cannot  leave  \is.  If  He  left  us  we  should  cease 
to  be.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  because  He,  as  Life,  is  trying  to 
restore  us,  because  He  is  so  infinitely  and  absolutely  present 
in  us,  and  present  in  His  operations  as  Life, — in  His  operations 
as  Love,  in  ftvct,  with  all  its  attributes  of  Wisdom,  Power,  and 
Providence, — for  this,  as  we  have  seen,  is  just  what  Grod  as  Life 
is.  He  is  Love,  but  Love  not  as  an  affection,  but  Love  itself, 
Love  in  its  essence. 

God,  then,  never  came  to  Swcdenborg,  never  came  to  any 
man  ;  for  He  has  always  been  present,  absolutely  present,  with 
all  men,  rather  in  all  men ;  but  He  manifested  Himself  to 
Swedenborg,  as  He  has  to  other  men  and  to  angels.  And  we 
may  sec  what  is  meant  by  this ;  we  may  see  that  God,  from 
His  absolute  presence  tvithin,  has,  under  certain  conditions  or 
states  of  mind,  and  because  of  such  conditions  as  modifying 
the  Divine  Operations,  become  mani/esf,  or  appeared  exter- 
nally, and,  therefore,  in  an  external  pei'sonalifi/,  to  men  ;  but 
that  He  did  this  without  in  the  least  degree  changing  or 
modifying  His  absolute  presence  within. 

14.    True  Basis  of  ThouglU. 

Now  if  we  take  false  views  of  God, — that  He  is  a  sort  of 
mysterious  being  outside  of  us  ;  that  He  acts  from  arbitrary  will 
and  purpose  and  according  to  plan  or  pattern  previously  con- 
ceived •  that  He  comes  and  goes ;  that  He  now  does  little  and 


30  INTRODUCTION. 

now  more ;  that  He  takes  special  cognizance  of  one  man  and  his 
work,  or  in  any  other  sense  than  that  in  which  He  takes  special 
cognizance  of  each  and  of  all  men  and  their  work, — take  such 
a  view  of  God  as  some  men  evidently  do,  and  we  shall  become 
all  bewildered  and  divided  and  in  irreconcilable  difference  of 
opinion  on  all  subjects  in  which  Grod  is  a  factor. 

But  if  we  have  given  a  correct  view  of  Grod — of  Grod  as  the 
Word,  thus  as  the  Truth  and  the  Life  ;  of  Grod  as  an  "  Influx 
of  Divine  Truth,"  and  as  eternally  and  unchangeably  the  same 
to  all  men ;  of  God  within  and  not  without ;  of  what  He  is  in 
His  absolute  nature,  and  what  in  His  manifestations ;  of  His 
personality  and  of  His  Omnipresence — let  us  take  this  view  as 
our  standing  ground  and  our  basis  of  thought  and  of  inquiry 
on  all  questions  relating  to  God,  or  in  which  the  Divine  is  a 
factor.  Let  us  keep  this  view,  under  all  circumstances  and 
conditions,  as  constantly  and  unfailingly  in  sight  as  the  mariner 
does  his  compass,  and  we  shall  then  be  led  to  true  views  of 
Swedenborg  and  his  writings,  and  of  both  in  their  relation  to 
the  Lord,  and  also  in  their  relation  to  the  man  of  this  New 
Ase. 


SWEDENBORG  AND  THE  NEW  AGE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

GENERAL    PRINCIPLES. 

1.   Sicedenhorg. 

Who  was  Swederiborg  ?  what  was  his  mission  ?  how  was  he 
prepared  for  his  mission  ?  in  what  did  his  qualifications  for  it 
consist?  did  the  Lord  do  anything  different  for  him  from  what 
he  does  for  all  men  ?  was  there  anything  special  or  extraor- 
dinary in  the  Lord's  relation  to  him,  in  any  other  sense  than 
that  in  which  these  terms  apply  to  all  men  ?  what  is  the  real 
nature  of  his  writings  ?  are  they  in  any  sense  the  AVord  or 
Sacred  Scriptures  ?  are  they  divine  ?  are  they  Swedenborg's 
writings  or  the  Lord's  writings  ?  are  they  the  Lord's  Second 
Advent  ?  what  is  that  advent  ?  what  is  Swedenborg's  relation 
to  the  Advent  ?  what  is  the  New  Jerusalem  ? 

2.    Why  these   Questions  ? 

These  questions  have  become  of  unusual  interest  of  late 
because  of  extraordinary  views  entertained  by  some  in  regard 
to  the  "  Writings."  It  has  been  claimed  that  they  are  the 
"  Lord's  writings ;"  that  they  are  the  "  Word  without  the  ex- 
ternal sense;"  and  that  they  are  the  "  Lord's  Second  Advent." 
Thus  it  is  claimed  that  the  Writings  are  not  an  explanation 
merely  of  the  internal  or  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  but  that 
they  themselves  are  the  spiritual  sense.     This  is  equivalent  to 

31 


32  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

saying  that  they  are  the  very  "  Spirit  of  Truth"  itself,  and  it 
was  indeed  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth  that  the  Lord  promised  to 
come  again.  But  there  is  no  ratio  between  Truth  itself  and 
verbalized  truth,  or  a  verbal  statement  or  explanation  of  truth, 
any  more  than  there  is  between  the  sunlight  and  a  description  of 
the  sunlight.  The  Writings  must  be  either  truth  itself,  truth  in 
its  spirit,  truth,  that  is  to  say,  in  its  spiritual  essence  and  form, 
or  they  must  be  a  mere  explanation  or  finited,  verbal  statement 
of  truth.  They  must,  therefore,  be  the  spiritual  sense  of  the 
Word,  either  in  the  sense  of  an  explanation  merely  of  the 
spiritual  sense,  or  in  the  sense  of  the  "  Spirit  of  Truth." 
And  such  extraordinary  views  about  the  Writings  have  re- 
sulted in  equally  extraordinary  views  about  Swedenborg,  the 
instrument  of  them.  We  have  thought,  therefore,  that  this 
whole  subject  demanded  a  most  thorough  and  careful  exam- 
ination, and  in  the  very  light  itself  of  the  spirit  and  philosophy 
of  the  Writings. 

3.    What  we  Propose  to  Show. 

We  propose  to  show,  and  from  the  Writings  themselves, 
that  they  are  in  no  sense  whatever  the  Lord's  writings,  further 
than  that  He  gave  the  influx  of  light  and  life  to  the  mind  that 
produced  them ;  that  they  are  no  more  the  Lord's  writings,  m 
any  other  sense,  than  all  men's  writings  are  the  Lord's ;  that 
they  are  no  moi'e  the  Lord's  writings  than  the  fruit  produced 
on  a  tree  is  the  sun's  fruit,  or  the  Lord's  through  the  sun, 
which,  we  know,  is  His  only  in  the  sense  in  which  His  life 
evolved  or  created  the  organism  of  the  tree  that  produced  the 
fruit ;  and,  moreover,  that  they  are  not  the  "  Lord's  Second  Ad- 
vent" in  any  other  sense  than  that  of  a  treatise  on,  or  explana- 
tion or  instruction  about,  the  Advent;  and  that  they  are  in  no 
other  sense  the  Word  than  that  of  an  explanation  of  the  Word. 
"We  propose  to  show,  on  the  contrary,  that,  with  the  above 
qualification,  the  Writings  are,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the 
word,  purely  and  exclusively  Swedenborg's  writings ;  and  that 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES.  33 

they  are  as  mucli  more  completely  his  writings  as  he  was 
more  completely  a  faithful  "  servant  of  the  Lord ;"  and  that 
certain  expressions  which  he  uses  in  relation  to  himself  and 
the  Lord's  relation  to  him  no  more  belong  to  him — making  all 
allowances  for  differences  in  men  and  differences  in  uses — than 
they  belong  to  all  men ;  in  a  word,  that,  so  far  as  the  Lord 
was  concerned,  in  what  He  did  for  Swedenborg,  Swedenborg 
was  in  no  sense  different  from  other  men  ;  just  as,  so  far  as 
the  sun  is  concerned  in  what  it  does  for  the  tree  bearing  noble 
fruit,  such  tree  is  in  no  sense  different  from  the  trees  bearing 
ignoble  fruit ;  that  Swedenborg  was  no  "  prodigy  ;"  that  he 
was  remarkahle  even,  not  for  what  the  Lord  did  for  him,  but 
for  the  manner  in  which  he  received  and  used  what  the  Lord 
equally  gives  to  or  does  for  all  men  ;  that  his  writings,  there- 
fore, have  no  other  authority  than  that  of  the  truth  that  is  in 
them,  and  in  them,  not  as  real  living  truth,  but  as  mere  verbal 
statements  of  truth  ;  and  that  they  have  such  authority  even 
only  as  they  meet  the  rational  demands  of  the  mind  that  reads 
them;  and,  moreover,  that  the  authority  of  truth  thus  ration- 
ally seen,  and  by  each  one  for  himself,  is  the  only  authority 
that  can  be  acknowledged  in  the  true  New  Jerusalem. 

4.    Tlie  New  Departure. 

Let  us  at  the  start,  and  for  the  sake  of  clearness  from  the 
contrast,  briefly  consider  the  claims,  enforced  by  no  lack  of 
knowledge  of  what  Swedenborg  literally  says,  that  his  writings 
are  the  Lord's  writings.  It  is  plain  that  this  claim  makes  the 
Writings  virtually  another  Sacred  Scripture,  another  woi-d  of 
God,  though,  it  is  confessed,  '•  without  the  external  sense," 
and  yet  "  without  an  internal  or  spiritual  sense,"  the  Writings 
themselves  being,  it  is  claimed,  the  spiritual  sense  rather  than 
a  mere  explanation  of  it.  This  makes  the  Writings  another 
Divine  revelation,  like  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  but  differing 
from  any  previous  revelation  in  being  addressed  and  accom- 
modated to  further  developed  and  higher  states  of  mind.     la 

3 


34  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

such  accommodated  form  the  Writin2:s  are,  therefore,  to  be  to 
the  more  matured  cominjr  man  essentially  \vhat  the  books  of 
Moses  were  to  the  Israelites.  According  to  this  claim,  the 
Writings,  like  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  have  come  as  verbally 
expressed  Divine  authority^  as  "  thus  saith  the  Lord."  The 
difference  is,  the  Israelite  was,  practically,  scarcely  more  than 
a  physical  man,  and  his  responsible  acts  were,  therefore,  only 
acts  of  the  body ;  hence  it  was  such  acts  that  his  Scriptures, 
as  he  understood  them,  recognized  and  rewarded  or  punished; 
whilst  the  "  coming  man,"  the  true  man  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
is  a  rationally  thinking,  loving  man,  and  is,  therefore,  respon- 
sible for  his  thoughts  and  motives  of  action  as  well  as  for  his 
actions.  Revelation  to  the  latter,  therefore,  or  his  "  thus 
saith  the  Lord,"  only  addresses  a  higher  plane  of  mind  than 
did  the  Israelitish  Scriptures.  I  mean  that  truth,  according 
to  this  view  of  the  Writings,  must  be,  or  rather  has  been,  in 
just  as  imperative  and  divinely  formulated  statements,  meas- 
ured down  to  the  man  of  this  New  Jerusalem  Age,  as  it  was 
to  the  less  developed  man  of  the  Old  Jerusalem  Age.  That 
is  to  say,  the  man  of  the  New  Jerusalem  must,  like  the  man 
of  the  Old  Jerusalem,  be  governed  by  divinely  exact,  in- 
fallible, verbal  statements  of  truth  rather  than  by  the  Lord 
in  His  Advent  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth  actually  shining  in  and 
enlightening  the  mind.  According  to  this  view,  the  New 
Church  man  must  be  just  as  punctilious  in  his  observance 
of  what  the  Writings  literally  and  formally  &ay  as  the  Israelite 
was  in  his  observance  of  what  "  Moses  and  the  Prophets" 
said. 

Thus  the  Word  as  the  "  Spirit  of  Truth,''  actually  flowing 
into  New  Jerusalem  mind,  as  it  did  not  and  could  not  with 
similar  results  flow  into  Old  Jerusalem  mind,  seems  to  be 
either  wholly  ignored  or  to  be  given  an  altogether  secondary 
place.  And  yet  the  Word,  as  such  actually  and  consciously 
present  influx  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  really  the  great  dis- 
tinctive characteristic  of  this  New  Age ;  is,  indeed,  that  which 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES.  35 

constitutes  tlie  real  "  glory"  of  the  "  Second  Advent."  For 
all  of  the  Lord's  comings  have  been  (xs  the  Word, — that  is  to 
say,  have  been  as  Truth  in  one  form  or  another  in  its  relation 
to  mind.  To  the  Israelite  the  Lord  as  Truth  could  come  only 
in  words,  only  in  finite  statements  of  truth ;  to  the  coming 
man,  on  the  contrary,  the  Lord's  real  distinctive  coming  must 
be  as  light  shining  in  and  illuminating  the  mind  ;  that  is  to 
say,  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth.  But  according  to  the  view  of 
which  I  am  speaking,  Swedenborg  seems  to  be  regarded  as  a 
specially  prepared  instrument,  not  by  whom  the  real  character 
of  Sacred  Scripture — the  lowest  written ,  or  verbalized  form 
of  the  Word — was  explained,  but  through  whom  a  higher 
written  or  verbalized  form  of  the  same  Word  was  given  by 
the  Lord. 

Yes,  according  to  this  view,  the  "  coming  man,"  the  man  of 
the  regenerated  manhood  of  the  race,  the  man  capable  of  illus- 
tration by  the  influx  of  the  "  Spirit  of  truth"  itself, — as  is  to 
be  the  case  with  all  regenerated  men,  as  was  the  case  with 
Swedenborg, — is  to  have  truth  verbally  measured  down  to 
him,  it  seems,  in  a  divinely  authoritative  form,  as  the  dark-, 
minded  Israelite  had.  Thus  the  man  of  the  future,  whose 
mind  is  destined  to  become  more  and  more  opened  to  the 
Word  in  its  internal  form  of  "  living  light^''  is  to  be  forever 
kept  in  verhal  "  leading  strings,"  like  the  man  of  the  past. 
We  can  easily  see  why  the  child  or  the  undeveloped  man,  as 
was  the  Israelite,  must  be  told ;  why  it  must  be  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord ;"  why  the  great  principles  or  laws  of  life  must  be 
verbally  stated  to  him  in  a  divinely  authoritative  form.  But 
we  cannot  see  why  this  should  be  necessary  or  even  useful  to 
the  developed  or  developing  man  of  the  New  Jerusalem  phase 
of  humanity,  whose  mind  is  opening  to  receive  truth  from  influx, 
thus  to  receive  the  very  Spirit  of  truth, — which  is  to  receive 
truth  as  living  light.  Any  authoritative  statement  of  truth  is, 
and  it  ought  to  be,  most  repulsive  to  the  real  man  of  this  age. 
The  true  man  of  this  a2:e  can  acknowledjie  no  truth  but  as  it 


36  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

appeals  to  his  own  rational  thought  and  gives  him  light.  He 
can  receive  the  husk  of  truth  only  as  he  sees  the  corn  in  it, 
and  then  he  will  receive  it  for  the  sake  of  the  corn,  not  the 
husk. 

The  Writings  are  not  even  the  husk,  for  they  are  not  as  an 
outgrowth  from  the  corn  ;  they  have  not  come  by  correspond- 
ence, as  Sacred  Scripture  has  ;  they  are  nothing  but  a  treatise ; 
yet  they  are,  as  such,  of  priceless  value  until  you  have  come 
into  a  state  to  see  the  truth  itself,  and  then  tbeir  value  is  of  a 
very  different  character.  You  then  see  truth  as  Swedenborg 
did,  as  all  regenerated  men  do ;  you  see  it  illuminating  the 
very  letter  itself  of  the  Word  as  you  devoutly  and  lovingly 
read  it.  What  do  you  then  care,  when  you  have  arrived  at 
this  state,  for  any  explanation,  any  verbal  statement  of  truth 
or  about  truth  ? 

5.  Illustrative  Example. 

I  once  heard  of  a  man,  a  good  old  man,  who  had  read  the 
"  Heavenly  Doctrines''  with  great  delight  and  profit  for  about 
fifty  years.  His  interest  in  them  then  gradually  subsided, 
until  they  at  length  lost  their  attraction  for  him.  He  laid 
them  aside  and  read  the  Bible  only.  Why  was  this  ?  The 
Writings  had  done  their  work  for  him ;  they  had  explained  to 
him  the  real  nature  of  Sacred  Scripture  as  a  casket  of  jewels ; 
they  had  given  him  the  key  to  the  casket ;  he  had  applied  the 
key,  and  had  at  length  come  into  that  regenerate  state  in  which 
he  actually  saw  the  jewels  in  the  casket, — ^jewels  which  had 
only  been  described  to  him  before.  He  no  longer  needed  the 
key  after  he  got  sight  of  the  jewels.  The  living  truth  itself — 
of  which  the  Writings  are  only  verbal  treatises — flowed  sen- 
sibly into  his  mind  while  he  was  reading  the  Scriptures,  and 
exhilarated  and  illuminated  it.  He  was  in  "  revelation  from 
perception." 

A  description  of  the  landscape,  or  of  the  things  seen  in  the 
sunlight,  may  be  of  priceless  value  to  one  by  blindness  de- 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES.  37 

privcd  of  tlio  siinliulit ;  but  what  does  he  care  for  such  descrip- 
tion after  his  sii^ht  has  been  restored  ?  "  In  proportion  as  the 
love  is  kindled,"  says  Swedcnborg,  "  the  truth  sliines  ;  for  tlie 
good  of  love  is  the  very  vital  fire,  ...  is  comparatively  as  the 
flame  of  the  sun  which  is  heat  and  licjht."  And  it  is  regener- 
ation, and  that  alone,  that"  kindles  the  love,"  thus  that  enables 
one  to  see  the  jewels  in  the  casket.  You  may  be  intellectually 
informed  about  the  jewels,  yon  may  learn  how  to  use  the  key 
to  open  the  casket,  but  by  no  possibility  can  you  see  the  jewels 
but  as  your  love  is  kindled  as  the  result  of  regeneration.  The 
old  man  in  question  was  in  a  state  to  see  measurably,  as  Swedcn- 
borg himself  saw ;  but  this  by  no  means  implies  that  he  pos- 
sessed the  qualifications  to  do  the  work  which  Swedcnborg 
did.  Other  similar  cases  might  be  mentioned,  in  which  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  from  a  similar  cause,  had  become,  to  those 
devoutly  reading  them,  luminous  with  the  very  "spirit  of 
truth,"  and  hence  of  infinitely  greater  value  than  any  other 
book,  not  excepting  even  the  Writings. 

6.    The  ''Main  Factor^ 

Prior  to  the  year  18G0  there  seemed  to  be  no  important 
difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  Swedenborg's  writings  or 
the  nature  of  his  mission.  But  in  that  year  the  late  llev. 
Thomas  Worcester,  in  his  address  before  the  Convention,  at 
Chicago,  spoke  thus  of  Swedcnborg : 

"  When  Swedcnborg  became  receptive  of  those  two  loves 
[love  to  God  and  love  to  man],  he  had  within  himself  the  most 
essential  means  of  understanding  the  Scriptures;  he  had  a 
genuine  love  for  the  truths  contained  in  them,  for  he  loved 
what  they  teach.  And  besides,  the  good  loves  which  he  had, 
opened  his  mind  upward  to  heaven,  to  the  Lord,  so  that  he 
could  receive  heavenly  light, — the  spirit  of  truth,  the  Holy 
Spirit, — which  exalts  and  illustrates  the  things  contained  in 
the  literal  sense.  This  is  what  enabled  him  to  see  and  to  draw 
forth  true  doctrine  from  the  Word."  (See  "  New  Jerusalem 


38  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AOE. 

Magazine"  for  August,  18G0,  p.  80.)  A  very  few  took  excep- 
tion to  this. 

According  to  the  view  above  stated  by  Mr.  Worcester — and 
we  were  not  aware  that  any  diti'ered  from  it  at  that  time,  and 
we  presume  that  he  was  not — the  "  main  factor'"  in  Sweden- 
borg's  qualifications  for  his  mission,  though  by  no  means  the 
only  important  or  extraordinary  one,  was  his  state  of  regener- 
ation. It  was  to  this  that  exception  was  taken  ;  and  yet  it  has 
since  been  admitted,  by  a  part,  at  least,  if  not  by  all  who  once 
opposed  it,  that  the  "  gift  of  perception  or  illustration  from 
the  Lord,  by  which  man  sees  the  truth  not  from  himself  but 
from  the  Lord,  presupposes  a  state  in  which  man  has  reached 
not  only  the  sixth,  but  even  the  seventh,  stage  of  the  regenerate 
life  ;"  and  that  it  is  only  when  he  is  regenerated  as  to  his  celes- 
tial degree  .  .  ,  that  he  is  in  the  condition  in  which  he  may 
be  "  internally  inspired,"  or  "  receive  revelation  from  percep- 
tion." And  all  admit  that  Swedenborg  was  "  internally  in- 
spired," or,  which  is  the  same,  was  in  a  state  of  revelation 
from  perception. 

This  high  state  of  regeneration,  in  its  relation  to  Sweden- 
borg's  other  qualifications,  is,  comparatively,  we  may  say,  by 
way  of  illustration,  as  the  retina  to  the  other  organs  of  the 
eye.  The  retina  is  an.  expansion  of  the  optic  nerve,  thus  is 
immediately  connected  with  the  brain,  and,  through  the  brain, 
with  the  soul  itself.  However  perfect  the  eye  in  other  respects, 
there  could  be  no  vision  without  the  retina.  The  other  organs 
of  the  eye  are  as  Swedenborg's  other  qualifications.  But  as 
these  organs  are  impotent  without  the  nerve  connecting  them 
with  the  soul,  so  Swedenborg's  other  qualifications,  however 
perfect  they  might  be,  would  be  of  no  avail,  as  regards  his 
great  mission,  but  for  that  state  of  regeneration  which  opened 
his  mind  upward  to  the  reception  of  that  influx  from  the 
Lord  which  filled  him  with  light,  which  internally  inspired 
him,  or  put  him  in  a  state  of  "revelation  from  perception." 
It  was  this  that  gave  significance  and  power  to  all  his  other 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  39 

qualifications,  and  made  them  effective,  as  it  were,  as  instru- 
ments ;  just  as  the  retina  makes  all  the  other  organs  of  the  eye 
effective  as  instruments  of  sight. 

Here,  then,  is  one  point,  and  a  fundamental  one,  on  which 
all  must  be  agreed,  namely,  that  Swedenborg's  mind  was,  by 
his  high  state  as  to  regeneration, — though  perhaps  not  neces- 
sarily to  the  seventh  degree, — opened  upward  to  the  Lord. 

7.  Illumination. 

Let  us  now  inquire  what  are  the  results  of  such  a  state  of 
regeneration,  as  regards  man's  relation  to  the  Lord.  What 
new  capacities  are  opened  in  him  ?  First,  he  comes  into  a 
state  of  illumination,  or  illustration.  All  men  do.  The 
Writings  are  vei'y  full  and  unmistakable  on  this  subject : 
"  When  man  is  in  good,  and,  from  good,  in  truth,  he  is  raised 
into  the  Divine  light,  and.  according  to  the  quantity  and  qual- 
ity of  good,  into  such  as  is  more  or  less  interior."  A.  C.  9407. 
"  The  light  of  truth  with  a  man  is  altogether  according  to 
the  state  of  his  love.  In  proportion  as  the  love  is  kindled, 
the  truth  shines"  (10,201),  and,  of  course,  the  mind  is  illu- 
minated. "  All  illustration  is  from  good."  "  When  there  is 
illustration  by  truth,  then  there  is  an  appearance  as  if  the 
illustration  was  from  truth,  when  yet  it  belongs  to  the  good 
which  thus  shines  through  truth."  309-1.  This  so  accords 
with  our  rational  intuitions  I  will  not  take  up  the  space  with 
further  citations.  We  all  see  how  this  is;  for  Swedenborg 
teaches  with  unmistakable  clearness  that  the  Divine  Influx  is 
the  same  into  all  men, — the  evil  and  the  good,  the  regenerate 
and  the  unregenerate, — ^just  as  the  influx  from  the  sun  is  the 
same  into  fields  of  weeds  and  fields  of  corn;  just  as  the  rains 
fall  equally  upon  the  cultivated  and  the  uncultivated  portions 
of  the  earth  ;  just  as  life  from  the  brain  flows  with  c(pial  ful- 
ness into  the  diseased  as  into  the  non-diseased  organs  of  the 
body.  Regeneration  clears  the  mind  of  its  darkening  vapors, 
dispels  the  clouds,  and  brings  the  mind  into  a  state  recipient 


40  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

of  tlie  light  of  heaven.  To  be  in  regenerated  love  and  charity 
is  to  have  the  spiritual  sky  clear  and  transparent,  is  to  be 
upon  the  spiritual  mountain,  in  the  very  light  of  heaven  itself, 
where  the  Lord — the  Lord  as  the  Word,  as  the  very  Spirit  and 
Life  of  truth — is  "  in  His  glory."  Let  it  be  remembered  that 
this  is  not  an  exceptional  state,  but  that  all  regenerated  men 
are  in  a  state  of  illustration,  but  each  "  altogether  according 
to  the  state  of  his  love ;  that  is,  according  to  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  good  in  him."  Of  course  the  measure  of  the  light 
received — not  its  intensity — and  the  results  of  its  reception 
must  depend  upon  the  capacity  of  the  mind,  upon  whether  it 
is  broad  or  narrow,  large  or  small,  if  I  may  so  speak.  We  do 
not  suppose  that  a  mind  of  small  and  limited  experience,  for 
example,  can  receive  as  much  light  as  one  of  vast  experience, 
like  that  of  Swedenborg,  nor  that  the  results  will  be  as  great. 

8.   Perception. 

A  second  result  of  such  highly  regenerated  state — and  thus 
of  illustration — is  an  "  internal  perception  of  truth,"  and 
"  thus  revelation  from  perception."  "  He  who  loves  truths 
for  the  sake  of  truths  sees  them  from  the  Lord^''  that  is  to  say, 
from  the  Word,  from  the  truth  itself,  which  the  Lord  is.  "  All 
perception  is  from  celestial  love,"  and  all  who  arrive  at  the 
celestial  state  in  their  regeneration  receive  perception  from  the 
Lord.  A.  C.  1442,  1616.  "  Perception  is  the  celestial  itself 
given  by  the  Lord  to  those  who  are  in  the  fiiith  of  love."  536. 
"  They  who  are  in  the  spiritual  affection  of  truth  are  elevated 
into  the  light  of  heaven,  even  so  as  to  perceive  their  illustra- 
tion from  the  Lord."  A.  C.  1183.  And  this  perception  of 
truth  is  internal  revelation, — is  a  revelation  to  all  men  in  a 
regenerated  state  and  to  angels,  but,  of  course,  with  a  differ- 
ence. It  is  a  revelation  to  them  of  all  that  God  has  to  reveal, 
for  it  is  a  revelation  of  Himself,  of  Himself  as  the  all-creating 
Word,  as  the  all-illuminating  Truth.  What  has  God  to  re- 
veal but  Himself  as  Living  Light?     "  The  Divine  Truth  from 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  41 

the  Lord  is  the  only  thing  from  wliich  is  everything  else." 
9503.  What  else  need  He  reveal  ?  What  more  does  the 
man  in  illustration,  thus  in  the  perception  of  truth  from  the 
Lord,  want?  Illuminating  truth,  thus  truth  glowing  with 
Divine  Love,  is  all  that  it  is  possible  for  any  one  to  receive 
immediately  or  directly  from  the  Lord. 

9.    Understanding  and  Will. 

Let  us  not  confound  a  state  of  perception  with  the  state  a 
man  is  in  when  his  understanding  is  raised  into  light  in  ad- 
vance of  his  will,  for  there  is  an  infinit-c  diiference  between 
them.  A  man  is  in  perception,  or  that  kind  of  perception 
which  is  from  illustration,  only  as  a  result  of  regeneration.  It  is 
true,  Swedenborg  says,  that  the  "  understanding  of  every  man 
may  be  elevated  into  the  light  of  heaven  and  perceive  spiritual 
truths  when  he  hears  them,"  but  qualifiedly  so,  that  is,  "  ac- 
cording to  the  affection  of  knoicing  and  understanding  them." 
A.  C.  1323.  He  says  that  "  even  devils  can  understand  the 
arcana  of  wisdom."  A.  C.  1343.  "  The  understanding  can  be 
elevated  above  the  lusts  of  the  will."  T.  C.  R.  574.  Of  course 
man  could  never  see  the  "  way  of  life"  and  become  regenerated 
if  this  were  not  so.  Man  is  mentally  so  organized  that  his 
understanding  can  go  before  and  lead  the  way.  But  Sweden- 
borg says  that  "  there  arc  no  truths  where  there  is  no  good," 
and  thus  no  pure  genuine  light ;  and  he  proves  it.  For  he 
adds,  "  The  reason  is,  because  the  Lord  never  flows  immediately 
into  truths  with  man,  but  mediately  by  his  good ;  for  good  is 
of  the  will,  and  the  will  is  the  man  himself,  the  understanding 
being  thence  produced  and  formed ;  for  the  understanding  is 
so  adjoined  to  the  will  that  what  the  will  loves  the  under- 
standing sees,  and  also  brings  forth  into  light ;  wherefore,  if 
the  will  is  not  in  good,  but  in  evil,  then  the  influx  of  truth 
from  the  Lord  into  the  understanding  avails  nothing ;  for  it  is 
dissipated,  because  it  is  not  loved  ;  yea,  it  is  perverted,  and 
the  truth  is  falsified ;  hence  it  is  manifest  why  the  Lord  does 

8* 


42  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

not  immediately  flow  into  the  understanding  of  man,  except 
so  far  as  the  will  is  in  good.  The  Lord  can  illustrate  the  un- 
derstanding of  every  man,  and  so  flow  in  with  divine  truths, 
inasmuch  as  the  faculty  of  understanding  truth  is  given  to 
every  man,  and  this  for  the  sake  of  his  reformation  ;  but  still 
the  Lord  does  not  so  flow  in,  because  truths  do  not  remain, 
but  in  proportion  as  the  will  is  reformed :  to  illustrate  the  un- 
derstanding in  truths  even  to  faith,  except  in  proportion  as  the 
will  acts  as  one  with  it,  would  also  be  dangerous ;  for  man  can 
then  pervert,  adulterate,  and  profane  truths,  which  exposes  him 
to  the  worst  condemnation.  Moreover,  truths,  howsoever  they 
are  known  and  understood,  if  they  are  not  at  the  same  time 
lived,  are  nothing  but  inanimate  truths ;  and  truths  inanimate 
are  as  it  were  statues  which  are  without  life.  From  these 
considerations  it  may  appear,  whence  it  is,  that  there  are  no 
truths  where  there  is  no  good,  unless  as  to  form  and  not  as  to 
essence."    A.  E.  730. 

Li  regard  to  perception,  it  is  of  various  degrees  and  kinds ; 
but  that  with  which  Swedenborg  was  favored  was  evidently 
that  which  a  man  has  when  he  is  "  in  truth  from  good,"  and 
which  is  the  result  of  his  state  of  illustration.  Swedenborg 
was  in  illustration,  and  therefore  in  perception  as  a  consequence, 
and  he  was  in  revelation  from  perception. 

10.  Revelation  from  Perception. 

Revelation  from  perception  is  what  the  angels  only  and  re- 
generated men  have.  This  is  the  kind  of  revelation  that  was 
common  in  the  Most  Ancient  Church,  but  comparatively  rare 
in  the  degenerating  Ancient  Church.  It  is  a  totally  different 
kind  of  revelation  from  that  made  by  speech,  like  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  or  by  visions ;  and  it  requires  an  entirely  different 
state  of  mind  to  receive  it.  It  could  not  possibly  have  been 
received  by  those  to  whom  revelation  was  made  in  a  verbal  form, 
not  even"  by  Moses  and  the  Prophets.  Revelation  from  per- 
ception is  the  Word  as  living  light  actually  shining  in  the 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  43 

mind,  as  it  shines  in  the  minds  of  angels  and  good  spirits,  or 
regenerated  men.  Revehition  from  perception  is  from  influx, 
not  from  dictation;  Sacred  Scrii)ture,  or  verbal  revehition,  is 
from  dictation,  but  dictation,  let  us  remember,  not  by  the  Lord, 
but  by  angels  and  good  spirits,  as  they  were  filled  by  influx 
from  the  Lord  ;  for  dictation  is  a  finite  act.  It  is  divine  truth 
finited  down,  as  it  were,  into  thought  and  measured  out 
in  words.  Revelation  from  perception,  it  is  plain,  is  of  a 
more  interior  kind,  for  it  is  actual  insight  into  spiritual  prin- 
ciples and  causes ;  it  is  a  conception  of  such  principles  and 
causes  in  the  very  light  itself  of  heaven.  Revelation  from 
verbal  dictation  is  only  a  description,  in  words,  of  scarcely 
more  than  the  gross,  materialized  effects,  as  it  were,  of  such 
principles.  Revelation  from  perception  is  as  the  restoration 
of  the  things  of  sight  to  the  blind,  in  all  their  detail  of  beauty 
and  glory,  as  they  appear  to  perfect  vision  ;  while  revelation 
from  dictation  is  as  the  lame,  verbal  utterance  and  description 
of  those  things  to  the  blind. 

11.   Dictation. 

But  we  are  told  that  Swedenborg  positively  affirms  that 
the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  was  dictated  to  him  from 
heaven.  So  he  does.  But  to  dictate  is  to  give  the  very 
words.  And  if  he  received  the  words  he  wrote  from  heaven, 
it  must  have  been  either  from  the  Lord  or  from  the  angels. 
But  the  Lord  never  finites  truth,  which  is  Divine  thought, 
into  speech,  except  through  finite  agencies,  such  as  men,  spirits, 
or  angels.  But  Swedenborg  expressly  declares  that  "  he  never 
received  anything  concerning  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church 
from  any  angel  or  spirit,  but  from  the  Lord  alone."  What  does 
he  mean,  then,  by  dictation?  Let  him  define  his  own  words, 
and  he  does  this  clearly  and  consistently.  In  speaking  of  Reve- 
lation from  Perception,  he  says  that  perception  "  is  a  dictate 
through  heaven  from  the  Lord  flowing  into  the  interiors  of 
the  thought."  A.  C.  5121.      Again,  "  Perception,  in  itself,  is 


44  SWEDENBORG    AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

nothing  else  than  a  sort  of  internal  spooch  ;"  "  every  interior 
impression  or  dictate,  and  even  conscience  itself,  is  nothing  but 
such  internal  speech."  1822.  When  perception  ceased  in  the 
Most  Ancient  Church,  there  succeeded  a  kind  of  dictate  called 
conscience.  Swedenborg  speaks  of  several  kinds  of  dictate, 
as  that  of  perception,  of  conscience,  of  truth,  of  good.  But 
they  are  each  and  all  an  injfiix  from  the  Lord ;  and  whether 
they  are  of  one  kind  or  another  depends,  not  at  all  upon  the 
nature  of  the  influx, — for  that  is  unchangeably  the  same, — 
but  upon  the  state  of  the  recipient. 

12.    Who  Jiave  Revelation  from  Perception? 

But  who  have  perception  ?  Swedenborg's  teachings  on  this 
point  are  unmistakable  ;  they  are  often  repeated.  In  fact,  his 
whole  philosophy  of  mind  in  its  relation  to  the  Lord  makes 
the  subject  plain,  even  if  he  had  said  nothing  specifically  about 
it.  As  shown  above  from  the  Writings,  they  have  revelation 
from  perception  "  who  are  in  good,  and  from  good  in  truth." 
Revelation  from  perception  is  made  when  they  who  are  in 
such  a  state  read  the  Word.  5121.  The  Word  reveals  itself 
by  Holy  Influx  to  all  who  are  in  such  a  state  of  Good  and 
Truth  while  they  are  devoutly  reading  it.  8971.  And  there 
is  nothing  else  to  be  revealed  but  the  Word,  or  the  Lord  as 
the  Word.  When  the  Word  is  revealed  all  is  revealed ;  God 
and  heaven  and  all  things  in  heaven  are  revealed.  To  such 
persons  the  Word  reveals  itself  in  its  genuine  sense, — that  is, 
as  living  light.  10,323.  Such  influx  of  the  Word  as  light, 
and  conseci[uent  illustration,  are  actual  elevation  into  heaven 
among  the  angels,  and  communication  there  from  the  Lord. 
10,330.  But  communication  from  the  Lord  is  nothing  else 
than  communication  from  Him  as  the  Word,  thus  as  an  influx 
of  living  light.  Communication  from  the  Lord  is  never  in 
audible  speech,  except  to  the  merely  natural  man,  and  not  to 
him  even,  except  as  the  liglit  is  finited  into  speech  through 
the  tiniting  medium  of  angels  or  spirits.     Though  there  is  a 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  45 

sense  in  which  natural  men  may,  as  regards  their  intellectual 

part,  be  raised  into  the  light  of  heaven,  yet  no  one  who  is  not 

"  in   truth   from   good"  can  have  the  kind   of  perception   of 

which  we  are  speaking,  and  thus  revelation  from  perception. 

No  one  can  understand  the  true  spirit  and  philosophy  of  Swe- 

denborg's  writings  without  being  undoubtingly  convinced   of 

this. 

13.   Formulated  Truth. 

Formulated  Truth— that  is  to  say,  Truth  finited  into  verbal 
statements,  verbal  precepts,  principles,  or  doctrines — never  did, 
never  can,  come  immediately  from  the  Lord  ;  they  come  only 
through  finiting  agencies  or  instruments.  And  there  are  no 
such  finiting  mediums  between  the  man  in  a  state  of  "  revela- 
tion from  perception"  and  the  Lord.  A  man  in  such  a  state 
'sees  truth,  not  in  its  finited  and  verbalized  form,  in  its  form 
as  of  a  statement,  precept,  or  doctrine,  but  sees  it  as  light  from 
the  Divine, — perceives  his  own  illustration  from  the  Lord  (as 
above).  Swedenborg  mentions  his  own  case  AS  an  example, 
and  NOT  as  exceptional :  "  It  was  given  mr,"  he  says,  "  to  see 
the  illustration,  and  from  it  to  perceive  distinctly  what  comes 
from  the  Lord  and  what  from  the  angels."  1183.  What  came 
from  the  Lord  to  Swedenborg  was  precisely,  in  kind,  what 
comes  to  all  men,  namely,  illuminating  truth,  or  truth  as  light ; 
just  as  what  comes  from  the  sun  to  one  plant  is  precisely,  in 
kind,  what  comes  to  all  plants.  What  Swedenborg  wrote  was 
finitely /oj'mit^a/efZ  truth  ;  he  never  wrote  any  other  kind  of  truth. 
But  where  was  such  truth  formulated  but  in  his  own  mind  ?  and 
how  formulated  but  exactly  according  as  his  mind  was  im- 
pressed by  the  influx  of  truth  as  fifing  light  ?  And  how  is 
mind  thus  impressed  but  according  to  its  purity,  its  developed 
capacities,  its  stores  of  experiences,  etc.  ?  It  is  not  every  mind 
that  can  formulate  truth,  especially  in  its  highest  verbal  re- 
vealment.  A  mind  must  have  peculiar  gifts  and  be  specially 
prepared  for  this  oflice ;  and  even  then  it  is  only  "  spiritual 
truth"  that  can  be  measured  down  into  a  verbal  form  :  "  celes- 


46  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

tial  truth"  is  inofFable.  S.  D.  4071,  et  jiassim.  That  nothing 
is  received  from  the  Lord — nothing  whatever — but  influx  of 
living  truth,  influx  of  the  very  "  spirit  and  life"  of  the  Word, 
and  not  verbal  truth,  not  finited  or  formulated  ideas,  princi- 
ples, or  doctrines,  is  confirmed  by  the  following  passage,  among 
numerous  others, — namely,  "  By  revelation  is  meant  illustration 
when  the  Word  is  read,  and  in  such  case  perception  ;  for  they 
who  are  in  good,  and  desire  truth,  are  SO  taught  from  the 
Word," — that  is,  by  the  Lord.  And  this  is  the  way,  and  the 
only  way,  in  which  Swedenborg  was  ''  taught  by  the  Lord  while 
reading  the  Word;"  it  was  by  illmtnition  and  perception,  and 
not  by  the  Lord's  giving  him  already  formulated  ideas,  prin- 
ciples, or  doctrines,  much  less  verbal  statements  of  truth,  as 
some  seem  to  suppose.  Neither  Swedenborg,  nor  any  other 
man  or  angel,  ever  received  anything  directly  or  immediately 
from  the  Lord  but  infinite  or  unfiuited  truth,  truth  as  light 
shilling  in  the  mind ;  for  this,  as  repeatedly  stated  before,  is 
all  that  the  Lord  has,  or  ever  had,  or  ever  need  to  have,  to 
give  any  one. 

14.    The  Writings. 

And  did  Swedenborg  give  what  he  so  joyously  and  so  abun- 
dantly received?  Never.  This  was  impossible.  Truth,  as 
light,  could  not  even  shine  through  him  as  natural  light 
through  a  transparent  medium.  And  this  is  an  important 
fact  to  be  noted.  Truth  became  finite  the  moment  the  Divine 
Influx  impinged  upon  the  walls  of  his  mind.  He  could  not 
be  the  medium  of  truth  as  light;  he  could  not  transfer  it  as 
Divine  Truth.  He  could  give  it,  could  speak  it  and  write  it, 
only  as  finited,  formulated,  verbal  truth  ;  he  could  communicate 
it  only  in  the  form  of  talks  about  or  descriptions  of  truth  ;  in 
other  words,  he  could  only  convey  to  others  the  thoughts,  ideas, 
principles  suggested  and  formed  in  his  own  mind  as  illumi- 
nated by  truth  as  light;  just  as,  however  purely  you  may  re- 
ceive the  sunlight,  you  cannot  communicate  it ;  you  can  only 
talk  about  it  and  about  things  illuminated  by  it.     Swedenborg's 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  47 

writings  are  not  genuine  truth, — tcacliings  are  not  genuine 
truth, — they  cannot  be,  any  more  than  bottles  are  wine,  or 
than  surfaces  receiving  and  dividing  or  foriuuhxting  light  into 
distinct  shades  and  colors  are  the  light,  or  rather  than  such 
colors  are  the  light.  They  are  only  verbal  expressions  of 
truth,  or  suggestive  mediums  or  formularies  of  truth.  And 
such  formularies  are  not  Divine  any  more  than  the  purple 
clusters  produced  from  the  vine  through  the  medium  of  the 
branches  are  the  vine,  or  are  the  life  of  the  vine.  The 
Writings  are  rather  as  finger-points  to  show  the  way  to  the 
Divine,  or  how  we  may  come  into  a  state  to  receive  more 
purely  the  Divine.  They  are  not  designed  to  give  men  truth, 
but  to  lead  them  in  the  way  of  truth,  to  tell  them  how  to  be 
regenerated,  and  thus  how  to  have  their  minds  cleansed  and 
purified,  so  that  they  can  receive  the  truth  already  flowing 
into  them  without  perverting  it,  and  thus  receive  it  as  truth. 
The  Writings  are  the  guides,  as  it  were.  Yet  we  regard 
Swedenborg's  statements  as  true  statements  or  doctrines  of 
truth,  and  of  priceless  value  as  such.  His  writings  are  not 
even  recipient  vessels  of  truth,  as  mind  is.  We  can  receive 
no  truth  from  them  or  through  them,  as  we  can  from  the 
Word.  They  are  in  no  sense  the  Word,  or  like  the  Word. 
The  Word,  and  that  alone,  is  truth. 

It  was  not  because  Swedenborg  was  a  servant  of  the  Lord, 
— we  are  all  equally  his  servants, — nor  because  he  had  a  spe- 
cial mission, — we  each  have  equally  a  special  mission, — that 
he  made  such  true  statements  or  teachings  or  doctrines  of 
truth,  but  because  he  received  truth  so  purely,  thus  because  he 
wrote  in  such  pure  light  of  truth. 

Swedenborg  was  not  exceptional  in  his  relation  to  truth, 
thus  to  the  Lord,  but  in  the  measure  which  he  received  of  it, 
rather  in  the  purity,  thus  heavenly  brightness,  in  which  he 
received  it;  and  this  is  the  reason,  and  not  because  the  Lord 
gave  him  more  than  other  men,  why  his  writings  are  so 
exceptionally  truthful  as  verbal  expressions  of  truth. 


48  SWEDENBORG   AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

15.    Truth  not  Transferahle. 

Swedenborg  was  simply  a  man,  like  other  men,  in  his  rela- 
tion to  truth  ;  he  was  simply  a  recipient  of  it,  just  as  we  are  ; 
it  flowed  into  him  just  as  it  flows  into  us,  and  for  the  same 
reason, — flowed  into  him  as  light  into  the  eye  or  life  into  the 
body,  but  not  to  be  transferred  to  other  men.  Can  light  be 
transferred  from  one  eye  to  another,  or  life  from  one  body  to 
another  ?  You  cannot  transcribe  truth.  There  is  an  infinite 
difference  between  truth  in  Swedenborg — or  as  it  flowed  into 
him — and  truth  in  his  writings.  Swedenborg  is  not  a  medium 
of  truth  to  us ;  he  is  not  between  the  Lord  and  us ;  neither 
are  his  writings.  We  do  not  look  to  him  or  go  to  his  writings 
for  truth,  as  we  do  to  a  well  for  water ;  they  contain  none. 
We  rai^ht  as  well  2:0  to  a  treatise  on  lioht,  or  to  verbal  state- 
ments  about  light,  for  light.  Truth  cannot  be  bottled  up 
like  wine.  It  is  truth  as  it  flows  into  you,  but  not  as  it  rests 
in  you  or  after  it  has  passed  through  you, — if  such  resting  or 
such  passage  were  conceivable.  What  is  light,  the  natural 
symbol  and  representative  of  truth,  when  confined  in  a  vessel 
or  when  it  is  brought  to  a  state  of  rest?  Is  it  anything? 
What  is  light  when  finited  and  formulated  in  words?  Is  it 
light?  Is  it  anything  like  light,  except  that  it  gives  the 
blind  man  some  sort  of  an  idea  through  the  ear  of  what  he 
cannot  see  with  the  eye  ? 

Such  is  the  relation  of  Swcdenborg's  writings  to  truth, — 
real  truth.  They  are  a  needful  substitute  for  truth  to  the 
spiritually  blind.  They  are  truth  speaking,  as  it  were,  when 
it  cannot  shine  by  reason  of  our  blindness.  Rather  they  are 
an  explanation  of  truth,  or  a  verbal  presentation  of  principles 
of  truth,  which,  if  not  spiritually  blind,  we  might  see,  and 
see  in  their  fulness  and  glory.  They  are,  in  their  relation  to 
truth,  what  a  description  of  a  landscape  to  a  blind  man  is  to 
the  light  by  which,  if  not  blind,  he  might  see  things  inefi"able 
and  full  of  beauty. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES.  49 

IG.    The  WritliHfs. — IIoio  Useful. 

Thus  these  writings  are  of  vast  importance  to  us  because 
we  are  blind.  But  let  us  not  for  that  reason  consider  them 
an  embodiment  of  all  truth,  or  of  all  the  Lord  has  to  give 
men.  and  just  as  if  the  Lord  could  put  His  truth,  any  of 
His  truth,  into  words  at  all.  They  are  of  very  great  use  to 
us  in  aiding  us,  by  explaining  to  us  the  way,  to  come  into 
states  in  which  we  may  receive  truth,  in  i:s  living  brightness, 
from  the  Lord.  But  let  us  remember  that  we  are  living  under 
the  same  spiritual  sun  that  poured  its  light  into  Swedcnborg's 
mind,  and  that  we  are  all  receiving,  each  according  to  his 
measure  and  state,  just  as  he  received.  We  are  not  dependent 
upon  Swedenborg,  or  upon  any  verbal  statement  whatever,  for 
Truth,  but,  just  as  Swedenborg  was,  upon  the  Lord  alone.  We 
may  have  read  Swedenborg  much  or  little  or  not  at  all ;  all  the 
Truth  we  have  received  has  come  by  influx  from  the  Lord 
alone.  What  we  get  from  Swedenborg  aids  in  giving  Truth 
from  the  Lord  practical  outline  and  form.  Truth,  without 
true  doctrinal  statement,  would  be  indefinite  and  vague. 
Here  we  see  the  use,  the  very  great  importance,  of  Swe- 
dcnborg's writings ;  here  we  see  their  true  place  and  use  in 
relation  to  Truth  itself, 

17.  Mt  nil  the  Truth. 

But  we  very  greatly  err,  so  far  as  we  imagine  that  Sweden- 
borg has  furnished  all  or  the  only  forujulated  vessels  of  truth. 
On  the  contrary,  every  true  life  elaborates  such  vessels.  The 
Sacred  Scriptures  furnish  them ;  so  does  science  or  a  knowl- 
edge of  God, — that  is,  of  Truth  in  nature.  The  thoughts  of 
some  men  flow  spontaneously,  as  it  were,  into  true  expressions, 
and  to  such  men  an  external  formula  would  be  only  an  em- 
barrassment. Other  men,  who  have  equally  keen  perceptions 
of  what  is  true,  cannot  think  but  as  aided  by  already  formu- 
lated vessels  of  thought.      The  former  do  not  care   to  read 


50  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

Swcilenborg  or  to  know  the  ultimate  expression  of  others' 
thoughts ;  the  latter  are  persistent  and  loving  students  of  all 
that  Svvedenborg  has  written.  Both  arc  admirers  of  Sweden- 
borg  and  of  his  writings,  but  for  different  reasons. 

There  is  every  variety  of  mind  in  the  reception  of  truth 
and  in  its  operation  and  effects,  just  as  there  is  every  variety 
of  plant  in  the  reception  and  operation  of  the  sunlight.  We 
live  in  an  age  or  at  the  time  of  that  peculiar  phase  of  developing 
humanity  when  universal  mind  is  in  a  new  receptive  state,  not 
when  the  Lord  is  doing  anything  different  or  anything  more 
than  in  any  former  age. 

There  is,  I  say,  an  infinite  difference  between  truth  and 
a  verbal  statement  of  truth.  True,  men  are  in  the  habit  of 
speaking  of  such  statements  as  truths ;  thus,  of  calling  true 
precepts,  doctrines,  or  teachings,  truths.  Swedenborg's  writ- 
ings are  truth  or  contain  truths  only  in  this  sense. 

18.    Truth. 

For  what  is  truth^  real  truth  ?  It  is  substantial,  living  efflu- 
ence from  the  Lord.  It  is,  indeed,  the  Lord  in  His  goings 
forth  of  Himself,  as  it  were,  from  Himself.  It  is  the  all- 
creating,  spiritual  radiance  of  God  and  from  God  as  the  Life 
and  Source  of  all  that  is.  It  is  the  "  TlorcZ," — not  as  Sacred 
Scripture,  but  as  that  of  which  Sacred  Scripture  is  only  the 
basis  and  continent,  the  outer  garment,  the  finited,  verbal 
statement;  it  is  that  Word  by  which  and  out  of  which  "  all 
things  were  made,"  and  without  which  "  was  not  anything 
made  that  was  made."  Truth  is  Life:  "  In  Him  [the  Word] 
was  life."  Truth  is  Light :  "  And  the  Life  was  the  light  of 
men."  Truth  flows  into  the  mind  as  the  brain-life  or  the 
heart-life  into  the  body,  and  it  gives  life  to  the  mind  as  such 
fluids  give  life  to  the  body.  Mind  actually  lives  on  truth — 
truth  as  the  form  and  manifestation  of  love — as  the  body  lives 
on  its  fluids  of  life.  Truth  ifliiininates  the  mind  as  the  sun- 
light the  world.     It  is  by  truth  alone  that  mind  is  enabled  to 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  51 

think  and  perceive  and  produce  results,  just  as  it  is  by  the 
sunlight  alone  that  the  earth  is  made  productive.  Such  is 
truth:  it  is  God;  and  all  the  God  we  know  or  need  to  know 
anything  about.  Christ  was  Truth  [God  the  Word]  manifest 
— brought  forth  to  view — to  human  perception  on  a  lower 
plane.     Truth  in  the  mind  is  God  in  the  mind. 

Can  any  of  these  things  be  said  of  the  Writings,  or  of  any 
other  verbal  teachings  or  doctrines,  however  true  they  may  be  ? 
Are  they  truth,  then  ?  Do  they  ever  contain  truth  ?  Are  any 
of  their  doctrines  or  teachings  truth?  Are  they  anything 
more  than  finite  statements  or  verbal  expressions  of  truth  ? 
but  statements  or  expressions  made  in  the  very  light  itself  of 
truth, — which  is  to  be  "  instructed,"  "  dictated  to,"  by  the  Lord 
Himself,  the  Lord  as  Truth  itself, — thus  they  are  true  state- 
ments. They  are  a  rich  storehouse  of  such  statements,  thus 
of  truths  in  this  sense  of  the  word.  And  this,  it  is  plain,  is 
all  that  they  are.  There  is  no  real  "  life"  in  them,  no  real 
"  light"  in  them.  They  only  tell  us  how,  by  living  according 
to  them  as  true  teachings,  we  may  come  into  a  state  to  receive 
real  truth  as  life  and  light  by  influx  from  the  Lord,  which  is 
the  only  way  to  receive  real  truth. 

Such  are  the  Writings  and  such  their  relation  to  Truth, 
thus  to  the  Lord.  What  is  their  relation  to  men  ?  Are  they 
true  statements  of  truth  to  men  ? 

19.  Authority  to  the  Man  of  this  Age. 

Here  is  exactly  the  point :  Are  they  true  statements, — not 
absolutely,  but  relatively  ?  This  depends  upon  the  reader's 
state.  Even  though  absolutely  true,  yet  to  some  men  they 
are  false ;  and  the  man  of  this  age,  of  this  phase  of  dc^velop- 
ing  humanity,  is  to  be  his  own  judge.  No  Grand  Sanhedrim 
or  ecclesiastical  Council  is  going  to  decide  the  question  for 
him.  The  Word,  Christ,  Truth, — Truth  as  he  sees  it, — is 
his  only  "  Rabbi.''  Matt.  ii.  3,  8.  And  this  is  one  of  the  great 
distinctive  features  of  the  man — the  real  man — of  this  age, 


52  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

and  a  feature  that  seems  to  be  entirely  overlooked  and  ignored 
by  some  writers  on  the  nature  of  Swedenborg's  writings  as 
"  authority."  It  is  not  literal  truth,  not  any  verbal  statement 
of  truth  whatever,  but  truth  itself, — truth  as  a  living  influx  into 
his  own  mind, — that  the  real  man  of  this  age  is  going  to  ac- 
knowledge as  authority,  and  influx  as  qualified  by  his  own,  not 
another's,  state  of  reception.  It  is  the  Jew  and  the  Solifidian 
alone — those  who  are  in  a  relatively  undeveloped,  childhood 
state — that  need  t;fr?*aZ  authority,  the  "  Thus-saiththe-Lord" 
form  of  truth.  But  such  men  do  not  really  belong  to  this 
age ;  they  are  dwellers  in  the  lingering  shadow  of  the  past. 
To  such,  Swedenborg's  writings  are  true  or  untrue, — ^just  as 
has  been  the  case  with  the  Jew  and  the  Christian  in  regard  to  the 
Bible, — according  to  external  evidence,  according  as  they  are 
persuaded  that  he  was  a  true  man,  and  therefore  "  told  the 
truth,"  or  wrote  what  the  Lord  told  him  to  write.  With  such 
men,  therefore,  the  question  is  not "  What  is  truth?"  but "  What 
do  the  Writings  say?"  It  is  not  living  truth  as  it  flows  into 
the  mind  and  produces  rational  conviction,  but  verbal  truth  as 
substantiated  by  adequate  authority,  that  is  their  "  Master," — 
not  truth  as  it  comes  directly  from  the  Lord,  or  is  the  Lord, 
in  their  own  minds,  but  as  it  comes  externally  formulated  and 
clothed  by  other  minds. 

20.  Evidence. 

Thus  it  is  plain  that  whether  Swedenborg's  writings  are  true 
statements  of  truth  to  men  depends  upon  the  character  of  the 
men,  and  that  they  will  be  regarded  as  true,  or  untrue,  ac- 
cording to  the  state  of  mind.  Formalists  or  literalists — such 
is  the  character  of  some  minds — must  have  evidence  about 
them  that  "  thus  saith  the  Lord."  And  they  are  constantly 
looking  for  such  evidence,  and  they  are  delighted  with  it  when 
they  find  it.  There  is  every  variety  of  this  kind  of  mind, 
from  the  ancient  Israelite  down  to  the  litcralistic  reader  of  the 
"  Heavenly  Doctrines."     Mystery  was  all-sufiicient  evidence  to 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  53 

the  Israelite;  a  miracle,  to  the  "Christian;"  to  the  man  in  a 
transition  state  for  the  new  age,  but  who  has  not  yet  entirely 
outgrown  the  old,  a  kind  of  rational  conviction  of  the  Divine 
authority  of  the  messenger  is  necessary  ;  whereas,  with  the  true 
man  of  the  age,  the  message  itself  is  all  that  he  will  regard  as 
of  any  account,  and  this  even  will  have  weight  only  as  wit- 
nessed to  \>f  the  internal  Rabbi  of  the  mind  itself, — Christ  as 
the  inflowing  life  or  Spirit  of  truth.  To  such  a  man  the 
Writings  will  be  true,  not  because  Swedenborg  says  so,  not 
because  of  any  supposed  evidence  that  the  Lord  says  so 
through  him,  but  because  he  is  in  a  state  -to  receive,  and  is  ac- 
tually receiving,  qualifiedly,  the  very  Spirit  of  truth  itself,  of 
which  the  Writings  are  only  a  finited,  verbal  statement.  No 
external  say-so  evidence  will  weigh  a  straw  or  excite  a  thought 
with  such  a  man.  He  will  not  care  to  ask  what  was  Sweden- 
borg's  authority,  or  whether  his  statements  are  worthy  of  be- 
lief. The  man  of  this  new  age,  the  man  of  the  real  New 
Jerusalem,  for  whose  use  alone  the  Writings  are  designed,  will 
measure  them  by  the  truth  actually  flowing  into  him,  and  not 
by  what  Swedenborg  or  anybody  else  says  about  them  ;  and  the 
only  test  to  him  of  their  fallibility  or  infallibility  will  be  that  of 
such  inflowing  truth, — if  it  should  occur  to  him  to  ask  even 
whether  they  are  infallibly  true  or  not.  To  every  such  man 
the  Writings  must  be  true  or  false  according  as  he  himself 
sees  them,  in  the  light  of  the  real  Spirit  of  truth  in  his  own 
mind.  If  he  does  not  thus  see  them  as  true,  you  cannot 
by  any  evidence  whatever  prove  them  to  him  to  be  true. 
Dreadful  exhibitions  of  Divine  wrath  and  power,  as  with  the 
Israelite,  or  signs  and  wonders,  as  with  tlie  earliest  Christians, 
or  rational  arguments,  though  never  so  logical  and  convincing, 
as  with  the  scientist  and  philosopher,  are  not  the  kind  of  evi- 
dence demanded  by  the  real  man  of  this  age,  though  they  have 
had  their  mission,  and  an  important  one,  in  the  past,  and  still 
have  with  a  certain  class  of  people.  Of  what  avail  is  it  for 
you,  though  possessed  of  all  the  gifts  of  the  highest  angel,  of 


54  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

what  avail  is  it  for  councils,  though  consisting  of  men  of  such 
gifts,  to  tell  a  man  who  has  the  real  manhood  of  this  age  de- 
veloiiiiig  within  him,  that  this  or  that  is  true  ?  He  has  a  higher 
authority — Christ,  Truth — as  a  witness  and  monitor  in  his  own 
mind,  whose  testimony  he  can  hold  as  subordinate  to  that  of 
no  man  or  body  of  men.  Even  though  you  were  to  satisfy  him 
that  Swedenborg  was  the  infallible  mouthpiece  of  the  Lord,  as 
some  believe,  it  would  be  of  no  avail ;  his  utterances  must  be 
judged  and  received  or  rejected  according  as  witnessed  to  by 
the  Rabbi  within.  You  do  him,  therefore,  no  good  service  by 
proving,  even  if  it  were  possible,  that  Swedenborg's  writings 
are  infallible.  He  is  of  an  entirely  different  genius  from  either 
the  Israelite  or  the  Papist,  and  is  capable  of  higher  testimony, 
of  being  shown  plainly  of  the  Father, — "  even  the  Spirit 
of  Truth  .  .  .  that  dwelleth  with  you  and  shall  be  IN  you," 
an  inner  counsellor,  teacher,  and  enlightener.  How  is  it  that 
men  professedly  of  this  new  age  have  so  mistaken  the  genius 
and  wants  and  prerogatives  of  its  manhood  ?  This  is  an  in- 
ternal phase  of  humanity.  The  truth  that  comes  with  "  au- 
thority" comes  in  an  internal  way ;  it  is  not  formulated  truth. 
No  man,  in  any  sense,  stands  between  another  man  and  the 
real  Master :  "  All  ye  are  brethren."  The  man  of  this  age  is 
going  to  drink  from  the  living  fountain,  as  Swedenborg,  its 
precursor,  herald,  and  great  exemplar,  did,  and  not,  as  in  the 
past,  from  finited  statements  of  truth. 

21.    The  Man  of  the  Age  and  the  Writings. 

The  important  question  presents  itself,  then.  What  is  the 
position  of  the  real  man  of  this  age  in  his  relation  to  Swe- 
denborg's writings  ?  I  answer.  Very  similar  to  what  it  is  in 
his  relation  to  other  writings.  In  fact,  where  is  the  difference, 
if  he  acknowledges  no  verbal  statement  of  truth,  however 
true  in  itself,  as  authoritative  truth  ?  For  no  one  is  going  to 
acknowledge  these  writings  as  true  except  so  far  as  they  are 
true  to  him  J  true  as  Ae  sees  them.     And  this  can  be  said  of  all 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES.  55 

■writings.  And  he  can  sec  them  as  true  only  according  to  his 
reception  of  corresponding  living  truth  by  influx.  So  different 
is  the  man  of  this  age  from  the  man  of  any  preceding  age. 
The  witness  of  truth  is,  I  say,  within  and  not  outside.  Swe- 
dcnborg's  writings,  in  a  wonderful  degree,  bear  the  impress  of 
this  witness.  lie  evidently  wrote  them  in  its  light,  thus  by 
its  "  dictation  ;"  just  as  the  true  scientist  writes  in  the  light 
and  by  the  dictation  of  scientific  truth ;  just,  indeed,  as  Swe- 
denbors;  wrote  as  a  scientist. 


CHAPTER    II. 

SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO  THE  LORD. 

1.  Inspiration. 

Much  has  been  said  about  Swedenborg's  inspiration.  But 
what  is  meant  by  his  inspiration  ?  how  was  he  inspired  ?  was 
he  inspired  in  any  different  sense  from  that  in  which  all  re- 
generated men  are  inspired  ?  Swedenborg  gives  a  plenty  of 
unmistakable  instruction  on  this  subject.  And  what  he  says 
of  himself  is  clearly  intended,  in  most  cases,  as  illustrative  of 
general  principles  as  applicable  to  all  men  in  similar  states  of 
regeneration ;  as,  for  example,  where  he  says,  "  it  was  given 
me  to  know  by  experience,"  ''  I  know  from  my  own  case," 
"  this  was  granted  me  to  know  as  a  most  certain  thing  by  daily 
experience  and  reflection,"  and  the  like.  Passages  are  often 
met  with  in  the  Writings  which  relate  to  Swedenborg's  own 
experience  and  history  in  his  qualifications  for,  and  perform- 
ance of,  the  duties  of  his  office.  And  these,  to  a  superficial 
reader,  or  to  one  insensible  to  the  true  spirit  and  philosophy 
of  the  Writings,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  Swedenborg  was 
in  a  certain  extraordinary,  not  to  say  miraculous,  manner, — 
different  from  all  other  regenerated  men, — an  instrument, 
somewhat  as  Moses  and  the  Prophets  were,  in  the  hands  of 
the  Lord — a  "  quill,"  as  expressed  by  one — to  write  the  doc- 
trines of  the  New  Church.  But  the  extracts  show  no  such 
thing,  encourage  no  such  view,  except  to  the  intense  literalist 
who  is  blind  to  the  true  scope  and  philosophy  of  Swedenborg's 
teachings  as  a  whole. 
66 


SWEDENBORO'S  RELATION  TO  THE  LORD.        57 

2.    0/  Two  Kinds. 

There  are  plainly  two  kinds  of  inspiration, — one  external, 
the  other  internal.  The  Bible  was  written  by  men  externally 
inspired,  by  unregenerated  or  merely  natural  men,  thus  by  ex- 
ternal men.  Swedenborg  was  internally  inspired ;  for  he  was, 
as  is  acknowledged,  in  illustration,  and  thus  in  "  revelation 
from  perception  ;"  and  this,  as  abundantly  shown  in  the 
Writings,  is  what  is  meant  by  "  internal  inspiration."  No 
one  will  deny  that  Swedenborg  was  gifted  with  this  kind  of 
inspiration ;  but  in  this  he  was  like  all  .other  men  who  are 
"  in  the  good  of  love  to  the  Lord,"  or  "  in  good  and  thence  in 
truth,"  which  is  an  indispensable  condition  of  such  inspiration. 
In  such  inspiration,  therefore,  his  case  was  not  exceptional, 
except  so  far  as  his  regeneration  to  such  state  of  love  was 
exceptional,  for  all  men  in  such  state  of  "  good  of  love  to  the 
Lord"  are  internally  inspired.  Nothing  is  more  clearly  taught 
by  Swedenborg.  Thus  it  is  plain  that  Swedenborg  was  in- 
ternally inspired,  not  because  of  any  special  gift  by  the  Lord, ' 
but  because,  and  solely  because,  he  was  in  a  state  of  "  good  of 
love  to  the  Lord."  And  for  the  same  reason,  and  for  no  other 
reason,  was  he  in  illustration,  and  thus  "  in  revelation  from 
perception,"  while  writing  an  explanation  of  the  internal  sense 
of  the  Word.  He  was  inspired  or  was  in  revelation  from 
perception,  we  insist,  in  the  sense,  and  only  in  the  sense,  in 
which  all  men,  in  such  good  of  love,  are  inspired,  or  are  in 
revelation  from  perception  ;  for  influx  of  Divine  Truth  into 
such  men  is,  in  all  cases,  as  we  have  shown,  "  revelation  from 
perception,"  or  "  internal  inspiration,"  but  with  a  difference  in 
measure  and  degree  and  results,  of  course,  determined  by  the 
character  as  to  capacity,  condition,  stores  of  knowledge,  ex- 
periences, and  the  like,  of  the  recipient  vessels,  no  two  of 
which  arc  just  alike. 

4 


58  SWEDENBORQ  AND    TUB    NEW  AGE. 

3.    The  Lord's  Part  in  the  Writings. 

Now  what  wc  want  to  know  is  specifically  what  constituted 
the  Lord's  part  and  what  Swedenborg's  part  as  regards  the 
Writings.  First,  the  Lord's  part, — that  is  to  say,  we  want  to 
know  what  the  Lord  specifically  gave  Swedenborg  or  did  for 
him  as  His  "  servant"  while  he  was  writing.  Did  He  give 
him,  or  did  He  do  for  him,  anything  whatever  diflForent  from 
what  He  gives  to  or  does  for  other  men,  all  men  ?  We 
answer,  No.  For,  as  most  clearly  shown  in  the  Writings, 
nothing,  nothing  whatever,  no  influence,  no  power,  no  opera- 
tion, not  even  the  form,  the  essence,  or  the  shadow  of  any- 
thing, comes  from  the  Lord  but  an  effluence  of  Himself, — of 
Himself  as  the  Word,  of  Himself  as  Love,  Spirit,  Life,  Truth. 
He  has  nothing  else  to  give,  nothing  whatever,  but  such 
effluence.  And  He  does  nothing,  absolutely  notliing,  but  give 
such  effluence ;  just  as  the  sun  does  nothing  but  give  its 
radiance,  its  effluence  of  itself;  just  as  the  vine  does  nothing 
for  the  branches  but  give  them  an  effluence  of  and  from  its 
life,  or  give  itself  in  the  form  of  such  effluence.  The  Lord 
does  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  in  the  creation  or  evolution 
of  each  and  all  His  works, — and  whether  physical  or  spiritual, 
— but  what  He  does  as  simply  and  exclusively  the  result  of 
such  effluence  in  its  operation  as  influx  or  influence ;  and  such 
operation  must  of  necessity  and  invariably  depend  upon  the 
recipient  of  such  influx.  God's  power.  His  wisdom,  His 
providence,  all  His  attributes,  are  confined  to  the  operation  of 
such  effluence  and  influx.  He  has  no  finitely  purposive  in- 
fluence, no  arbitrary  power,  as  man  has  ;  no  magic  power. 
He  has  no  hand,  no  "  mighty  arm,"  none  but  the  Word, — that 
is,  none  but  Truth,  Truth  as  the  form  of  His  own  life,  by  which 
to  execute.  He  docs  nothing  as  man  does,  not  even  as  the 
good  man  does.  He  has  no  such  power  as  man  has.  The  sun 
is  the  great  exemplar  of  the  operation  of  His  power.  And 
how  does  the  sun  operate  ?  purely  as  an  influx  of  itself  or  of  its 


SWEDENBORO'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.        59 

own  substance.  It  works  in  secret,  entirely  concealed  from 
view ;  works  silently,  Avorks  orj^anifically,  and  little  by  little, 
and  always  exactly  according  to  conditions,  producing  woody 
fibre,  leaves,  or  flowers,  producing  sour  or  sweet,  one  color  or 
another,  a  noble  or  ignoble  ])lant  or  tree,  exactly  according  to 
the  recipient  conditions  modifying  its  operation.  It  is  pre- 
cisely so  with  the  Lord  in  all  that  lie  does  or  ever  did.  He 
works  as  the  sunbeam  works,  or  as  the  living  principle  in  the 
seed  or  in  the  egg,  which  is  from  Ilim,  works  to  create  a 
plant  or  a  bird.  And  this  is  the  way,  and  the  only  way,  in 
which  He  works  in  men  and  for  men.  lie  works  as  life,  and 
only  as  life  works ;  for  He  is  Life,  Life  itself;  and  all  His 
attributes  are  attributes  simply  of  Himself  as  Life.  Sweden- 
borg  has  explained  this  to  axiomatic  clearness.  This  is  the 
way,  and  the  only  way,  in  which  the  Lord  ever  worked  for  or 
ever  in  any  sense  or  manner  taught  or  influenced  Swedenborg 
in  his  writings  ;  it  was  as  inflowing  Life,  Life  whose  essence 
is  love  and  whose  form  of  operation  and  manifestation  is  truth. 
Hence  the  Lord's  part,  and  His  only  j)art,  in  those  Writings 
was  in  the  one  only  normal,  unchangeable  operation  of  the 
influx  of  Divine  Truth  which  he  gave  Swedenborg.  Yet, 
strange  to  say,  men  often  speak  as  if  the  Lord  exercised  some 
other  influence  over  Swedenborg,  or  as  if  He  influenced  him 
in  some  other  way,  or  in  some  additional  way,  than  by  the 
natural  and  spontaneous  operation  of  influx  of  Himself;  they 
speak  as  if  the  Lord  made  Swedenborg  an  exception  to  a  uni- 
versal and  unchangeable  law  in  this  respect,  which  law  is,  as 
before  stated,  that  the  operation  of  influx  must,  by  stern 
necessity,  always  and  invariably  be  according  to  recipient  state 
and  conditions.  They  speak,  for  example,  of  truth  being  "  in- 
stilled into  Swedenborg  by  the  Lord  Himself"  !  And  this 
peculiar,  exceptional,  instilling  process  seems  to  be  what  some 
understand  by  "  internal  inspiration  ;"  and  to  substantiate  this 
view  they  cite  what  Swedenborg  says  about  the  Lord's  "  dic- 
tating to  him,"  "  commanding  him,"  "  teaching  him,"  "  lead- 


60  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

ing  liim."  and  the  like,  without  regard  to  the  necessary  and 
only  meaning  of  these  phrases  when  considered  in  the  light 
of  the  spirit  and  philosophy  of  Swedenborg's  writings.  Just 
as  if  the  Lord  could  and  did  do  for  Swedenborg  something 
outside  or  independent  of,  or  in  addition  to,  the  natural  opera- 
tion of  His  influx  according  to  state  and  conditions  !  and  just 
as  if  it  were  not  equally  as  necessary  to  consider  what  Swe- 
denborg means,  according  to  Ms  own  j^^iHosoj^hi/,  as  to  hear 
what  he  is  regarded  as  "  authoritatively"  and  "  inftillibly"  sa?/- 
iiig.  And  here,  we  think,  lies  the  fatal  mistake  which  has  led 
to  such  strange  views  about  Swedenborg,  and  about  his  writings 
as  "  the  Lord's  writings." 

4.  ''Instaiedr 

But  if  truth  was  instilled  into  Swedenborg's  mind,  it  was 
truth  in  what  form  ?  Was  it  in  the  form  of  ideas,  principles, 
words,  doctrines?  That  would  be  external  inspiration,  and 
must  come  through  a  finiting  medium,  through  the  mind  of 
some  spirit  or  angel ;  for  ideas,  doctrines,  etc.,  are  finited 
things  ;  even  doctrines  are  only  truth  finited  into  verbal  teach- 
ings ;  are  truth  finited,  or  limited  and  accommodated,  in  a  cer- 
tain conceivable  form,  by  the  processes  of  finite  thought.  Doc- 
trines could  not  come  from  the  Lord  in  such  finite  form.  And 
yet  Swedenborg  says  that  he  "  was  instructed  by  no  spirit  or 
angel" — that  is,  by  no  finite  being — in  his  explanations  of  the 
AVord.  And,  as  we  have  seen,  nothing  comes  from  the  Lord 
but  Divine  Truth,  and  to  the  regenerated  man  it  comes  only 
as  an  influx  of  Light.  The  finiting  and  formulating  process 
into  ideas,  principles,  and  doctrines  must  have  taken  place  in 
the  finite  faculties  of  Swedenborg's  own  mind.  When  he  says, 
therefore,  that  "  the  internal  sense  was  dictated  to  him  by  the 
Lord,"  that  he  "was  taught  by  the  Lord,"  that  his  books 
were  "written  from  the  Lord  [a  Domino]  through  him,"  and 
makes  use  of  other  like  expressions,  he  certainly  cannot  mean 
what  the  rigid  litendist  would  make  him  mean.     Such  expres- 


SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.        Gl 

sions  must  be  intcrprctctl  by  doctrine,  and  interpreted  in  sucli 
a  manner  as  not  to  militate  against  the  unity  and  harmony  of 
acknowledged  general  principles.  Swcdcnborg  certainly  does 
not  contradict,  in  his  own  experience,  universal  and  unchange- 
able principles.  He  never  makes  the  laws  of  God's  relation 
to  men  different,  as  applied  to  himself,  from  what  they  are  as 
relating  to  other  men.  Swedenborg  clearly  shows  the  mean- 
ing of  the  above  expressions  by  the  way  he  uses  them  in  other 
connections.  For  example,  "  dictate" — which  literally  means 
"  to  declare  with  authority,"  or  to  give  verbal  command,  or  to 
speak  in  words — does  not  mean,  when  predicated  of  the  Lord, 
to  give  either  words  or  finited  thoughts,  principles,  or  teach- 
ings ;  it  is  only  a  certain  result  of  the  operation  of  the  influx 
of  Divine  Truth  into  finite  vessels  and  under  certain  condi- 
tions. Thus  Swedenborg  says,  "  It  was  dictated  in  a  wonder- 
ful manner  in  the  thought,  and  the  thought  was  led  to  an 
understanding  of  these  words,  and  the  idea  was  fixedly  held  in 
each  expression  as  if  detained  by  heavenly  power :  so  this 
revelation  took  place  to  the  conscious  senses.  By  the  permis- 
sion of  God  Messiah,  other  revelations,  which  are  many,  will 
be  spoken  of  elsewhere."  Adv.  7167.  Swedenborg  had  been 
speaking  of  a  certain  revelation  to  him.  "  They  who  arc  in 
good  know  from  good  what  is  in  Divine  Truth,"  "  for  it  is  to 
them  a  dictate,  and  guides  them."  A.  C.  4715-88.  "  In- 
spiration is  not  dictation,  but  is  influx  from  the  Divine." 
9094.  Genuine  perception  is  also  called  a  dictate  flowing 
through  heaven  from  the  Lord  into  the  interiors  of  the 
thought.  5121.  Conscience  is  a  kind  of  dictate  from  the 
Lord  that  a  thing  is  true.  895.  And  do  finited  thoughts, 
ideas,  or  principles  flow  down  through  heaven  from  the  Lord  ? 
Rather,  does  not  Divine  Truth  from  the  Lord  take  such  finited 
forms  in  the  finite  and  finiting  mind  itself  into  which  it  flows  ? 
So,  also,  such  expressions  as  the  following — upon  which 
some  seem  to  put  an  altogether  too  literal  construction — must 
be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  Swcdenborg's  general  teachings 


62  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

on  God's  relation  to  man  :  "  The  Lord  alone  favglit  me  ;"  "  the 
man  who  is  led  by  the  Lord  is  tauglit  by  Him  from  day  to 
day  what  he  is  to  do  and  to  speak,  and  also  what  he  is  to 
preach  and  to  write."  That  is  to  say,  all  men  so  led  are  so 
tauglit.,  and  not  Swedenborg  alone.  Again  he  says,  "  I  was 
instructed  by  no  spirit  and  by  no  angel,  but  by  the  Lord 
alone."  True,  such  expressions  as  the  following,  "  A  revela- 
tion from  His  mouth,"  "  by  command,"  as  predicated  of  the 
Lord,  and  other  like  expressions  used  by  Swedenborg,  seem  to 
imply  the  use  of  finite  vocal  organs  by  the  Lord  as  the  means 
of  their  utterance.  He  has  such  organs  m  i:)ote.ncy.,  or  in  first 
principles,  or  we  should  not  have  them.  But  has  He  them  in 
actual,  finited  form  ?  "  By  the  Divine  speech,"  Swedenborg 
says,  "  is  meant  the  Divine  Truth  proceeding  from  the  Lord's 
Divine  Human."  And  "  the  Divine  Truth  proceeding  from 
the  Lord  cannot  be  heard  nor  perceived  by  any  one  except  by 
mediations  ;"  and  "  the  ultimate  mediation  is  by  the  spirit 
who  is  with  man,  who  flows  in  either  into  his  thought  or  by  a 
living  voice."  A.  C.  6996.  But  there  was  no  such  media- 
tion in  Swedenborg's  case  while  explaining  the  internal  sense 
of  the  Word ;  for  he  says  that  he  "  was  instructed  by  no  spirit 
or  angel,  but  by  the  Lord  alone  while  reading  the  Word." 
And  this  shows,  again,  that  Swedenborg  received  nothing 
whatever  from  the  Lord  but  an  influx  of  Divine  Truth,  and 
this  in  no  other  form  than  of  such  Truth  as  Light  in  the  mind, 
as  is  the  case  with  all  regenerated  men.  And  yet  Swedenborg 
not  unfrequently  speaks  of  such  influx  as  "  Divine  speech  ;"  but 
he  also  says  that  it  infinitely  transcends  the  tongues  of  angels, 
and  of  course  it  must  the  tongues  of  men. 

5.   Sioedenhorg' s  Part. 

It  would  be  a  very  easy  matter  to  prove  to  the  Jiferalisf,  by 
Swedenborg's  own  words,  that  his  writings  are  the  "  Lord's 
writings."  In  fact,  some  do  actually  claim  that,  "  in  those 
writings  which  contain  the  doctrines  of  the  internal  sense  of 


SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO  THE  LORD.        63 

the  Word  of  God  there  is  not  a  single  expression  that  has  not 
been  written  by  the  Lord  through  Swedenborg !"  And  this 
claim  is  made  even  for  the  "  Adversaria"  and  the  "  Sj»iritual 
Diary"  !  Swedenborg  must,  therefore,  be  proved  to  be  either  an 
infinitely  pure  medium, — such  as  the  highest  angels  are  not, — 
thus  a  part  of  God,  as  the  branch  is  of  the  vine,  or,  in  some 
sense,  a  perfectly  jjas.sav  insfrumenf,  like  a  pen,  or  like  a  com- 
pletely controlled  amanuensis.  And  the  following  from  S.  D. 
2799  has  been  cited  to  substantiate  this  view:  "  To-day  it  was 
given  me  to  know  that  .  .  .  language  follows  from  the  thought 
according  to  the  ideas  of  thought,  and  that  language  is  a  natu- 
ral consequence  which  follows  in  order ;"  and  then  the  infer- 
ence is  made,  "  If  Swedenborg's  language  '  followed  according 
to  the  ideas  of  his  thought,  being  '  their  natural  consequence,* 
the  inspiration  of  the  Lord  must  have  been  continued  even 
into  the  very  words  that  Swedenborg  wrote."  Then  the 
converse  must  be  true  :  if  the  words  of  Swedenborg's  writings 
are  the  Lord's,  "  the  ideas  of  his  thought"  are  the  Lord's  as  a 
necessary  inference.  But  ideas  also,  like  words,  are  finite 
things.  And  such  finite  things  cannot  be  predicated  of  the 
Lord.  They  are  exclusively  and  finitely  human.  Inspiration 
on  the  Lord's  part  is  simply  injtax  of  Divine  'J'ruth  ;  on  man's 
part,  perccpfion.  The  result  is,  first,  "  rcvddtion  from  percep- 
tion," and  then  "ideas  of  thought;"  and  these  are  formed  by 
the  action  and  according  to  the  condition  of  human  faculty  as 
a  recipient  of  such  influx.  Ideas  of  thought  never  flow  in 
from  the  Lord,  any  more  than  plants  and  animals  flow  in  from 
the  sun  to  the  earth.  Finiting  and  formulating  human  faculty 
must  always,  of  necessity,  intervene  between  the  Divine  Influx 
and  the  words  that  follow  "  in  order"  as  a  "  natural  conse- 
quence" according  to  the  "ideas  of  thought"  which  result  from 
such  influx.  Such  human  faculty  is  just  as  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  formation  of  inflowing  living  truth  into  verhal  truth 
as  the  organism  of  the  tree  is  to  the  formation  of  the  sunlight, 
and  the   elements  of  earth,  air,  and  water  into   flowers  and 


64  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

fruit ;  or  as  the  mechanism  of  the  hand  is  to  the  reduction  of 
formless  material  into  the  form  of  a  watch  or  a  steam-engine. 
And  such  human  faculty,  however  highly  regenerated,  must  be 
relatively  impure  and  imperfect;  must,  therefore,  so  far ^  be  a 
limiting  and  qualifying  measure  and  medium.  Even  the 
"  angels  arc  impure  in  the  sight  of  Grod ;"  even  "  in  heaven 
there  is  continual  purification  ;"  "  it  is  impossible  for  any  angel 
even,  by  any  means,  to  arrive  at  absolute  perfection  to  eter- 
nity." The  angels  even  are,  therefore,  in  relative  obscurity  in 
their  perceptions ;  and  even  the  regenerate  man's  perceptions 
are  still  more  obscure  so  long  as  he  lives  in  the  body.  This  is 
confirmed  by  the  following  from  A.  C.  2367  :  "  When  the 
man  who  is  in  the  good  of  love  and  charity  passes  into  the 
other  life,  he  comes  from  an  obscure  life  into  a  clearer  one,  as 
from  a  kind  of  night  into  day,  .  .  .  till  he  comes  at  length  to 
the  light  in  which  the  angels  are,  whose  light  of  intelligence 
and  wisdom  is  ineflfable  ;  the  very  light  \lumen~\  itself  in  which 
man  is  respectively,  is,  as  it  were,  dark  ;"  and  by  this,  from 
D.  L.  W.  257,  "  Human  wisdom,  which  is  natural  as  long  as  man 
lives  in  the  natural  world,  cannot  on  any  consideration  be  raised 
into  angelic  wisdom,  but  only  into  a  certain  image  of  it.^^  And 
Swedenborg  acknowledges  that  "  there  was  a  change  of  state 
in  him  into  the  celestial  kingdom  in  an  image ;"  thus  that  he 
was  raised  only  into  a  certain  image  of  angelic  wisdom.  "  In- 
ternal inspiration,"  or  "  revelation  from  perception,"  is  the 
gift  only  of  one  who  is  "  in  truth  from  good^  Yet  it  is  some- 
times claimed  that  Swedenborg's  perception  did  not  correspond 
to  his  state  as  to  good,  thus  that  it  "  did  not  depend  upon 
his  regeneration,"  but  that  truth  was  "instilled  into  him  by  the 
Lord  Himself,"  and  this  because  Swedenborg  was,  in  a  certain 
sense,  "  separated  from  his  body"  only  "  as  to  the  intellectual 
part  of  his  mind,  and  not  as  to  his  will  part."  And  it  is  this 
instilling  process  that,  strange  to  say,  is  called  internal  inspira- 
tion. Just  as  if  the  Lord  actually  manipulated  the  influx  of 
Divine  Truth   into  Swedenborg  in  some  extraordinary  way, 


SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.        G5 

making  his  case  thereby  a  peculiar  and  exceptional  one  !  Just 
as  if  it  were  in  the  nature  or  power  of  the  Divine  influx — 
which  is  all  that  the  Lord  gives  or  docs  for  man — to  do  this ! 
You  might  just  as  sensibly  speak  of  the  Sun's  resorting  to  the 
expediency  of  some  such  instilling  process  to  produce  a  certain 
desired  extraordinary  kind  of  fruit.  If  Swedenborg  anywhere 
speaks  of  any  kind  of  inspiration  as  the  result  of  any  such  ex- 
traordinary instilling  on  the  part  of  the  Lord,  let  us  not  make 
Swedenborg  so  inconsistent  with  himself  as  to  believe  that  he 
means  anything  like  what  such  language  obviously  implies. 

6.  His  Partial  Separation  from  the  Body. 

But  let  us  inquire  what  is  really  meant  by  the  following 
clause  from  the  "  Coronis,"  which  is  calculated  to  mislead  the 
novitiate  reader  of  Swedenborg  in  regard  to  his  state  of  in- 
spiration and  the  cause  of  such  inspiration  :  "  These  revela- 
tions are  not  miracles,  since  every  man  is,  as  to  his  spirit,  in 
the  spiritual  world  without  separation  from  his  body  in  the 
natural  world,  but  I  with  a  certain  {quodani)  separation,  but 
only  as  to  the  intellectual  part  of  my  mind,  but  not  as  to  the 
voluntary  part."  S.  D.  Ap.,  p.  169. 

All  men  while  in  the  natural  world  are  at  the  same  time  in 
the  spiritual  world,  but  not  consciouslt/  so.  Swedenborg's  case 
was  an  exceptional  one.  What  made  it  so  ?  He  was  at  the  same 
time  consciously  in  hotli  worlds.  How?  Why,  by  a  certain 
separation  as  to  his  intellectual  part  which  was,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  was  in  the  natural  world,  consciously  in  the  spiritual 
world ;  he,  unlike  other  men,  had  the  gift  of  spiritual  vision. 
This  is  all  that  we  can  make  of  the  words,  "  a  certain  separa- 
tion as  to  his  intellectual  part."  This  is  all  that  the  phrase, 
even  in  itself,  justifies;  and  the  philosophy  of  the  Writings  ab- 
solutely forbids  any  other  meaning.  "  It  has  been  granted  me 
to  be  at  the  same  time  in  natural  light  and  in  spiritual,  .  .  . 
and  thereby  to  see  the  wonderful  things  of  heaven,  to  be  among 
the  angels  like  one  of  them,  and  at  the  same  time  to  imbibe 

4* 


66  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

truths  in  light"  (^idrin,  157),  wliich  implies  a  "  certain  separa- 
tion as  to  his  intellectual  part," — that  is,  intromission  by  con- 
scious spiritual  vision  into  heaven,  without  which  he  could  not 
have  seen  its  wonderful  things  nor  been  among  the  angels  as 
one  of  them. 

This  in  no  sense  implies  any  separation  of  Swedenborg's  intel- 
lectual part  from  his  voluntary  part.  Good  in  the  regenerated 
will  was  still  the  "  very  vital  fire"  by  which  the  intellect 
was  illustrated,  for  such  regenerated  will  is  the  only  possible 
recipient  of  all  illuminating,  wimediate  influx  from  the  Divine. 
"  The  truth  which  proceeds  immediately  from  the  Divine  enters 
into  man's  will,  this  is  its  way ;  but  the  truth  which  proceeds 
mediately  from  the  Divine  enters  into  man's  understanding ;"  and 
"  conjunction"  of  the  two — namely,  truth  in  the  will  and  truth  in 
the  understanding — "  cannot  take  place  unless  the  will  and  the 
understanding  act  as  one — i.e.,  unless  the  will  will  the  good  and 
the  understanding  confirm  it  by  the  truth."  A.  C.  7056.  And 
such  conjunction,  we  are  taught  by  the  most  unequivocal 
statements  in  the  Writings,  is  an  indispensable  condition  of 
"  revelation  from  perception,"  or  "  internal  inspiration."  You 
might,  therefore,  as  well  think  of  light  without  heat,  which  is 
its  very  essence,  or  of  form  without  substance,  as  think  of  such 
pe7-ceptio7i  or  inspiration  without  love  in  the  will.  "  When 
there  is  illustration  by  truth  there  is  an  appearance  as  if  it  was 
from  truth,  but  it  belongs  to  the  good  which  thus  shines 
through  the  truth."  "  The  Lord"— i.e.,  the  Divine  Truth— 
"  flows  in  and  is  present  with  a  man  in  his  good.  ...  It  is 
thought  that  the  Lord  is  present  in  the  truth  of  what  is  called 
faith  ;  but  He  is  not  present  in  truth  without  good."  "  The 
light  of  truth  with  a  man  is  altogether  according  to  the  state 
of  his  love."  "  Illustration  and  apperception  cannot  exist 
unless  there  is  aff"ection  or  love,  which  is  spiritual  heat,  to  im- 
part life  to  those  things  which  arc  illustrated  by  light."  "  In 
proportion  as  the  love  is  kindled,  the  truth  shines."  What 
can  be  plainer  ?     Will  and  understanding  must  not  only  be 


SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO  THE  LORD.        G7 

most  intimately  and  practically  connected,  but  must  bo  most 
active  in  their  relation  to  each  other.  The  intellect  cannot  be 
divorced  from  the  will  and  still  have  either  life  or  light,  for  the 
■will  is  the  very  substance  of  the  mind  ("  good  constitutes  the 
man  himself,"  A.  C.  lOjtSS),  and  the  understanding  is  not 
only  impotent,  but  is  nothing  without  it.  Hence  there  is  no 
perception  or  internal  inspiration  but  through  the  will  as  the 
principal  factor. 

7.  His  Insjnration. 

Illustration  or  inspiration  must  be  "  in  proportion  as  the 
love  is  kindled ;"  for  "  the  light  of  truth  with  a  man  is  alto- 
gether according  to  the  state  of  his  love."  "  They  must  pro- 
ceed at  a  like  pace."  How,  then,  can  we  understand  that  the 
truths  which  Swcdcnborg  saw,  "  did  not  correspond  to  his 
state  of  good ;"  and  that  "  the  state  of  his  illustration  did  not 
depend  upon  his  regeneration,"  and  that,  therefore,  the  truth 
by  which  he  was  illustrated  and  inspired,  was  "  instilled  into 
him  l>y  the  Lovd^''  and,  of  course,  instilled  into  him  by  some 
other  process  than  that  one  only  process  which  expresses  God's 
relation  to  man — namely,  influx?  Influx,  as  the  Writings  con- 
clusively show,  is  the  Lord's  one  only  and  unchangeable  rela- 
tion to  all  being.  And  "  the  influx  is  always  the  same"  as 
regards  what  comes  from  the  Lord,  but  "  is  varied  according 
to  state  and  reception."  In  regard  to  man,  "  the  influx  of  the 
Lord  is  into  good  and  through  good  into  truth,  and  not  con- 
trariwise ;  thus  into  the  will  and  by  the  will  into  the  under- 
standing, and  not  contrariwise."  Because,  and  solely  because, 
of  his  state  of  regeneration,  Swedenborg  received  immediate 
influx  into  his  will  and  mediate  influx  into  his  understanding ; 
and  those  influxes  were  conjoined,  and  he  suffered  himself  to 
be  led  by  the  Lord.  This  is  most  plainly  the  reason,  and  the 
only  reason,  why  Swedenborg,  like  all  other  men  in  a  similar 
state  of  regeneration,  was  in  "  revelation  from  perception,"  or 
was  "  internally  inspired."  His  spiritual  vision  or  intromis- 
sion into  the  spiritual  world,  which  was  only  a  "  certain  scpara- 


68  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

tiou  from  the  body  as  to  Lis  intellectual  part,"  had  nothing  to 
do  with  his  inspiration,  either  for  or  against.  Such  vision  or 
intromission  was,  relatively  to  his  perception  or  inspiration,  a 
very  external  matter.  Even  natural  men  sometimes  have  such 
vision,  and  thus  such  separation,  though  with  a  difference  in 
extent  and  degree.  Such  intromission  was,  with  Swedenborg, 
simply  one  of  the  important  agencies  in  his  qualifications  for 
his  peculiar  mission, — one  of  the  qualifiers,  one  of  the  indis- 
pensable conditions,  in  fact,  of  his  state  and  reception;  one  of 
the  factors  which  enabled  his  inspiration,  or  the  influx  of 
Divine  Truth  into  him,  to  take  effect  in  the  way  it  did.  He 
might  have  done  other  work  requiring  illustration  and  internal 
inspiration  or  perception,  but  he  could  not,  as  effectually  as  he 
did,  have  done  the  work  he  had  to  do,  without  this  factor ; 
any  more  than  the  eye,  or  any  other  organ  of  the  body,  can 
perform  as  perfectly  its  function,  with  any  part  of  its  organism 
gone,  however  small,  and  even  though  receiving  the  same  un- 
impaired and  unchangeable  influx  from  the  heart  and  the 
brain. 

8.    Conditions  of  Interned  Insjiiration. 

The  cause  and  conditions  of  internal  inspiration,  as  of  reve- 
lation from  perception,  as  stated  throughout  the  Writings,  are 
intelligible,  rational,  and  practical,  and,  we  may  add,  apply  to 
all  men ;  they  are  simple  and  easily  understood, — are,  indeed, 
just  what,  to  be  in  accord  with  other  teachings,  we  should  ex- 
pect them  to  be.  We  cannot  reverse  what  Swedenborg  so 
clearly  teaches  on  this  subject.  A  certain  intellectual  sepa- 
ration from  the  body  cannot  change  the  cause  or  the  conditions 
of  internal  inspiration ;  for  it  cannot  change  man's  relation  to 
the  Lord,  the  one  only  Source  of  such  inspiration,  for  that 
relation  is  an  internal  one, — the  heavens  are  external  compared 
with  it.  No  angel  can  get  between  the  Lord's  immediate  in- 
flux and  man,  and  this  is  the  chief  element  in  internal  inspi- 
ration. Immediate  influx  is  into  the  will,  is  into  the  regener- 
ated love  there ;  and  perception,  or  internal  inspiration,  is  the 


SWEDENBORQ'S  RELATION  TO  THE  LORD.        69 

result.  And  such  a  state  of  mind  enables  man,  if  gifted  with 
spiritual  vision, — which,  as  before  stated,  is  relatively  an  ex- 
ternal matter, — to  be  consciomlij  "  in  consociation  with  angels 
as  one  of  them."  No  unregenerated  man,  even  though  in 
spiritual  vision,  could  possibly  have  had  the  kind  of  intelligent 
and  conscious  association  with  the  angels  that  Swedenborg 
enjoyed.  And  the  reason  is  a  perfectly  obvious  one.  For  the 
contrast  between  such  a  man  and  an  angel  is  as  great  as  be- 
tween a  wild  man  of  the  woods  and  a  philosopher.  Such  wild 
man  may  be  in  the  presence  of  a  philosopher,  thus  in  exter- 
nally visible  society  with  him  ;  but  to  be  in  intimate  consociation 
with  him  is  another  and  very  different  matter, — is,  indeed,  an 
impossibility.  The  fish  might  as  well  attempt  to  consociate 
with  the  bird,  or  the  grub  with  the  butterfly.  This  may  help 
us  to  see  the  real  nature  of  Swedenborg's  intromission  into  the 
spiritual  world,  and  how  entirely  different  it  was  from  that  of 
any  one  that  ever  preceded  him.  Because  he  was  in  internal 
inspirat'Kju  like  the  angels  he  could  be  in  consociation  with 
them  as  "  their  equal." 

What  does  Swedenborg  mean,  therefore,  when  he  says  that 
"  Inspiration  is  an  insertion  into  angelic  societies,"  but  that  the 
inspiration  was  the  cause  rather  than  the  effect  of,  the  inser- 
tion ?  And  what  does  he  mean  in  the  following  citations, 
made  by  another  to  show  that  Swedenborg  came  into  a  state 
of  inspiration  mainly  as  a  result  of  being  placed  in  the  society 
of  angels?  1.  "Then  by  the  Lord's  command  three  angels 
descended  out  of  heaven  and  were  associated  with  me,  in  order 
that,  from  an  interior  perception,  I  might  speak  with  those 
who  were  in  the  idea  of  three  gods ;  .  .  .  and  then,  from  in- 
spiration conferred  [lY^a^a],  I  spoke  with  them."  T.  C.  R.  135. 
2.  "  When  I  think  of  what  I  am  to  write,  and  while  I  am 
writing,  I  am  gifted  with  a  ^perfect  inspiration  ;  formerly  this 
would  have  been  my  own,  but  now  I  know  for  certain  that 
what  I  write  is  the  living  truth  of  God."  3.  "  Wliat  was 
written  above  was  inspired  by  an   angel,  who  was  with  me, 


70  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

which  I  could  perceive  from  the  light  and  other  indications. 
The  words  flowed  out  spontaneously  on  the  paper,  but  with- 
out dictation."  Adv.  5394.  4.  "While  writing,  to-day,  I 
experienced  an  angel  directing  what  I  wrote,  and,  indeed,  in 
such  a  manner  that  I  thought  thence  that  there  is  not  the 
smallest  particular  but  what  takes  place  under  the  auspices 
and  the  direction  of  God  Messiah."  S.  D.  446.  Let  this 
suffice.     See  also  S.  D.  2270. 

What  is  there  in  either  of  these  quotations  to  show  that 
Swedenborg's  inspiration  was  caused.,  in  any  way  or  manner, 
by  his  insertion  among  angels  ?  In  No.  1  the  angels  came 
evidently  in  some  way  to  be  an  aid  by  their  presence,  but  not 
to  be  the  cause  of  either  his  perception  or  of  his  inspiration. 
We  can  see  no  reason  whatever  for  the  second  citation.  It  is, 
then,  most  plainly  a  false  conclusion  that  "  the  Lord  endowed 
Swedenborg  with  inspiration  by  inserting  him  into  the  society 
of  angels."  In  one  place  Swedenborg  expressly  says  that  cer- 
tain things  were  "  inspired  by  an  angel."  But  what  does  this 
mean  ?  Will  you  so  interpret  it  as  to  make  it  contradict  the 
great  fundamental  principles  of  inspiration  as  so  clearly  and 
abundantly  taught  in  the  Writings?  and  as  to  make  it  contradict 
other  statements,  viz.,  that  "Swedenborg  was  instructed,  while 
writing  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church,  by  no  spirit  or  angel, 
but  by  the  Lord  alone"  ?  We  do  not  believe  that  Swedenborg 
ever  contradicts  himself  But  some  make  him  do  so  by  the 
use  they  make  of  various  quotations  they  draw  from  the 
Writings.  It  is  plain  enough  that  anything  inspired  into  one 
by  an  angel  is  a  very  diiferent  matter  ft'om  Divine  Truth  in- 
spired into  one  by  the  "  conjunction  of  mediate  and  immediate 
influx  from  the  Lord."  The  heading  and  the  close  of  S.  D. 
446  show  that  Swedenborg  speaks  of  his  own  experience,  as 
he  often  does  elsewhere,  as  illustrative  of  a  general  principle 
as  applicable  to  angels  and  all  regenerated  men.  That  pas- 
sage certainly  docs  not  mean  that  Swedenborg  received  internal 
perception  or  inspiration  as  a  result  of  his  insertion  among 


SWEDE NBORG'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.       71 

angels,  or  in  an  angelic  society,  any  more  than  a  man  receives 
his  native  talent — what  God  has  given  him — as  a  physician  or 
lawyer  by  his  insertion  among  physicians  or  lawyers. 

9.  Result  of  Regeneration. 

We  see,  therefore,  and  see  plainly,  that  Swedenborg's  in- 
spiration was,  unmistakably,  the  result  of  his  regeneration, 
and  not  the  result,  as  some  suppose  and  teach,  of  "a  certain 
separation  from  the  body  as  to  his  intellectual  part,"  and  then 
the  "  iHstilfatwii' — in  a  certain  extraordinary  way — "  of  truth 
into  him  by  the  Lord  Himself;"  nor  the'  result  of  his  "  inser- 
tion among  angels."  Just  as  if  the  Lord  ever  really  acted  in 
an  extraordinary  way  in  any  other  sense  than  that  in  which 
all  that  is  extraordinary  is  due  entirely  to  the  condition^  form., 
and  action  of  the  vessel  recipient  of  the  Divine  influx  and 
action !  Swedenborg  makes  nothing  plainer  than  that  all  in- 
flux from  the  Divine  is  the  same  and  its  inherent  action  the 
same,  but  that  all  variety  is  owing  entirely  to  the  varied  re- 
ciprocal action  of  the  recipient  vessel.  This  principle  is  as 
rigidly  applicable  to  Swedenborg's  *cnse  as  to  any  other,  and 
we  wander  into  error  just  so  sure  as  we  fail  in  any  case  or  in 
any  sense  to  recognize  it. 

But  we  are  speaking  now,  let  it  be  remembered,  not  of  Swe- 
denborg's peculiar  qualifications  for  his  mission,  or  of  what  is 
peculiar  in  them,  but  of  the  cause  and  conditions  of  his  in- 
spiration  ox  pfrception  ;  and  these  we  claim  were  the  same  in 
Swedenborg's  case  as  in  that  of  all  other  men,  in  all  cases 
alike,  the  cause  being,  first,  the  Divine  Influx,  and,  second, 
the  conditions  or  the  state  of  mind  as  to  regeneration.  (We 
will  consider  what  was  pecidiar  in  his  case  farther  on.)  Thus 
there  is  no  real  cause  whatever  for  saying,  as  some  do,  that  no 
man  in  this  world  can  come  into  a  state  of  perception  like  that 
of  Swedenborg,  "  even  if  he  should  be  regenerated  to  the 
same  high  degree,"  unless  he  be  separated  from  his  body  as  to 
his  intellectual  part  as  Swedenborg  was.     Fur  such  separation 


72  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

is  nowhere  mentioned  by  Swedenborg  as  one  of  the  conditions 
of  perception  or  internal  inspiration  ;  it  is  only  a  factor,  like 
all  others,  and  relatively  an  external  one,  as  before  stated,  in 
qualifications  for  a  certain  office  or  use  ;  just  as,  if  I  may  use 
the  illustration,  the  use  of  the  telescope  with  its  appliances  is 
neither  a  cause  nor  a  condition  of  natural  vision,  but  is  vir- 
tually an  extension  of  it,  and  thus  is  a  most  important  factor 
in  the  qualifications  of  an  astronomer.  And  all  can  see  how 
very  important,  how  absolutely  indispensable  indeed,  this  fac- 
tor was  in  Swedenborg's  case.  In  its  importance  to  his  mission 
Swedenborg's  intromission,  as  to  his  "  intellectual  part,"  into 
the  spiritual  world  was,  comparatively,  as  the  astronomer's 
intromission,  so  to  speak,  by  astronomical  instruments  into  the 
sidereal  heavens.  But  even  with  this  intromission  or  spiritual 
vision  Swedenborg  could  have  done  nothing  as  regards  his 
special  mission — namely,  an  explanation  of  the  internal  sense 
of  the  Word — without  internal  inspiration  or  perception,  any 
more  than  the  astronomer,  even  with  all  the  external  aids  of 
his  science,  could  do  anything  without  his  natural  vision ;  or, 
rather,  to  make  the  illustration  a  better  one,  without  a  certain 
degree  of  developed  intelligence  in  the  use  of  the  eye  and 
such  aids. 


CHAPTER    III. 

SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO  THE  LORD  (Continued). 

1.  "  Varied  a   Little^ 

SwEDENBORG  says  (Adv.  III.  G955,  ijQGQ)  :  "  With  him 
who  is  inspired  there  is  not  the  least  thing  in  any  expression, 
not  even  an  iota,  which  is  not  inspired,  although  it  is  varied  a 
little  according  to  the  gift  and  endowment  of  him  who  utters 
the  inspiration." 

This  is  an  instructive  and  significant  passage  in  regard  to 
Swedenborg's  part  or  the  finite  part  in*the  Writings,  or  in 
regard  to  how  or  in  what  sense  they  were  his  writings.  But 
this  is  what  Swedenborg  says  in  regard  to  the  prophets,  or 
those  who,  from  external  inspiration,  wrote  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures.    How  does  it  apply  to  Swedenborg's  case  ? 

2.   Sicedenhorg  and  the  Prophets. 

Let  us  consider  what  the  Prophets  were  inspired  to  do  and 
what  Swedenborg  was  inspired  to  do.  We  are  all  agreed  that 
the  Prophets  were  externalhj  inspired,  and  to  write  the  letter 
of  the  Word,  to  give  the  Word  its  lowest  finite  form,  which  is 
its  "  basis,  continent,  and  fii-mament,"  which  is,  in  other  words, 
its  "  outer  garment"  or  its  "  casket."  We  know  that  the  letter 
is  not  in  itself  holy,"  but  is  holy  in  virtue  of  that  of  which  it 
is  the  basis  and  continent.  On  the  contrary,  Swedenborg  was 
internally  inspired,  and  to  write  an  explanation  of  the  internal 
sense  of  the  letter.  His  writings,  strange  to  say,  are  claimed 
by  some  to  lie  the  internal  or  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  not 
an  explanation    of  it   merely,   as    Swedenborg    most   plainly 

73 


74  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

teaches.  Now  the  "  internal  sense  is  the  soul  of  the  Word," 
is  the  "  very  essential  Word,"  the  Word  as  "  Spirit  and  Life," 
as  the  "  Si)irit  of  Truth,"  thus  is  "  the  Lord  Himself"  Now 
was  Swedenborg  insi^ired  to  write  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  thus  to 
write  the  Lord  Himself? 

No  ;  that  won't  do.  No  one  can  believe  that.  Swedenborg 
only  wrote  an  explanation  of  the  Spiritual  sense.  We  see 
what  an  immense  difference  there  is,  therefore,  between  what 
he  wrote  and  what  the  Prophets  wrote ;  it  is  as  the  difference 
between  a  mere  description  or  explanation  of  the  soul,  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  body  itself,  which  is  an  organic  outcome 
from  the  soul,  on  the  other  side.  There  is,  as  it  were,  an  or- 
ganic connection  between  the  Spiritual  sense  as  the  Spirit  of 
truth  and  the  letter,  as  between  the  soul  and  the  body ;  but 
none  whatever  between  the  Spiritual  sense  as  an  exj)lanation 
and  the  letter. 

Now,  as  is  the  dilFerence  between  the  Word  itself  and  its 
letter  or  "  continent,"  or  between  the  soul  and  its  body,  or 
between  the  jewels  and  the  casket  containing  them,  such  is 
tjie  difference  in  any  variation  made  by  the  writers  of  the 
different  senses,  the  natural  and  the  spiritual.  And  in  this 
connection  how  pertinent  are  the  Lord's  words :  "  They  parted 
my  garments  among  them,  and  upon  my  vesture  did  they  cast 
lots," — garments  denoting  the  external  and  vesture  the  inter- 
nal sense  of  the  Word.  The  vesture  must  be  preserved  en- 
tire. The  internal  sense,  "  the  very  essential  Word  itself," 
thus  "the  Lord  Himself,"  cannot  be  divided,  cannot  be 
marred,  or  tarnished,  or  "  varied,"  by  the  touch  of  any  finite 
agent  or  medium.  A  little  variation  in  the  casket,  the  mere 
receptacle  of  the  jewels,  is  a  very  different  matter  from  a 
little  variation  in  the  jewels  themselves.  "  When  an  angel 
inspires  words  into  a  prophet  ...  he  is  only  in  spiritual 
things,  and  thus  acts  upon  the  mind  of  him  who  is  inspired, 
thus  excites  that  by  which  they  [the  spiritual  things]  fall  into 
expressions  in  the  usual  way.     The  expressions  are  such  as 


SWEDENBORGS  RELATION   TO   THE  LORD.        Y5 

belong  to  the  prophet,  thus  such  as  occur  to  him  according  to 
his  comprehension  and  form  of  mind.  This  is  the  reason  why 
the  style  of  the  prophets  is  so  varied,  each  one  having  a  style 
according  to  the  peculiar,  previously-developed,  analytical  form 
of  his  own  mind."  Adv.  6965.  Thus  it  is  plain  that  the 
form  of  the  literal  expression  was  not  important  further  than 
to  have  it  a  truly  corresponding  ultimate  "  basis,"  "  continent," 
and  "  firmament"  of  the  Divine  spiritual  principle.  This 
form  might  be  "  varied  a  little,"  and  without  detriment,  so 
long  as  the  correspondence  was  preserved.  It  was  of  no  im- 
portance, indeed,  that  the  letter  came  from-  "filthy  vessels," — ' 
there  were  no  other  for  it  to  come  from, — it  was  what  was  in 
the  letter,  and  what  the  letter  was  by  correspondence,  that 
sanctified  it.  The  letter,  in  its  mere  natural  meaning,  must 
be  accommodated  to  those  to  wJiom  it  was  given ;  it  was  the 
correspondence  that  efiiected  the  conjunction  between  God  and 
man,  between  the  innermost  and  the  outermost  of  being.  The 
inspiration  was  really  in  the  angel,  and  an  internal  one,  and 
not  in  the  prophet.  It  was  only  the  material  that  was  in  the 
prophet,  such  as  it  was,  that  was  used  by  the  angel,  the  prophet 
himself  being,  in  a  certain  sense,  only  as  a  passive  instrument 
and  medium.  The  case  was  very  different  with  Swedenborg. 
The  influx  of  Divine  Truth  into  him  was  the  same  as  that  into 
the  angel,  and  the  inspiration  the  same  in  kind,  though  not 
in  degree ;  for  he,  like  the  angel,  was  in  "  truth  from  good." 
But  the  influx  did  not  take  such  entire  possession  of  him  as 
it  did  of  the  angel,  for  "  even  regenerated  men,"  "  when  they 
pass  into  the  other  life,  go  from  an  obscure  life  into  a  clearer 
one,  as  from  a  kind  of  night  into  day,"  etc.  A.  C.  2367. 
The  influx  into  the  angel  who  inspired  words  into  the  prophet 
took  entire  possession  of  him  [the  angel],  so  that  he  was  not 
conscious  of  being  other  than  the  Lord, — that  is,  other  than 
the  Divine  Truth  which  so  completely  filled  him  ;  and  so  filled 
him,  not  because  the  Lord  did  more  for  him  than  fur  othcT 
angels  or  for  men,  but  because  his  peculiar  form  of  mind  anJ 


76  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

developed  and  regenerated  state  could  and  did  spontaneously  so 
receive.  The  angel,  having  that  office  to  perform  and  being 
thus  filled,  may  have  been  in  an  immeasurably  intenser  degree 
of  light  than  Swedenborg  was  in.  Compared  with  the  angel, 
"  the  light  itself  in  which  man  is,  respectively,  is  full  of  dark- 
ness." (Ibid.)  And  this  is  said  of  the  regenerated  man. 
And  yet,  considering  his  other  qualifications,  and  his  peculiar 
genius  or  form  of  mind,  Swedenborg  may  have  been  immeas- 
urably better  prepared  and  qualified  for  the  duties  of  his  pe- 
culiar ofiice  than  any  angel  was  or  could  have  been. 

Let  us  look  into  this  diff"erence  a  little  more  deeply.  No 
two  angels  are  in  precisely  the  same  degree  of  light ;  but  not 
because  the  Lord  does  more  or  less,  or  gives  in  different  de- 
grees ;  not  because  there  is  a  difierent  influx  of  Divine  Truth 
into  one  from  what  there  is  into  another,  but  wholly  because 
of  different  states  of  recejytion, — that  is,  because  of  different 
forms  of  mind,  different  experiences,  different  degrees  of  prog- 
ress in  heavenly  life,  different  intellectual  qualifications,  and 
thus  different  uses  to  perform ;  just  as  it  is  with  all  the  infi- 
nitely varied  members  and  organisms  of  the  body  in  their  rela- 
tion to  influx  from  the  heart  and  the  brain,  no  two  of  which 
receive  and  appropriate  exactly  alike. 

3.  UxcejJtional. 

It  may  be  thought  by  some  that  the  Lord  did  something  extra 
— something  in  addition  to  influx  from  and  of  Himself — for 
those  angels  who  "  inspired  words  into  the  prophets  ;"  just  as 
it  is  thought  by  some  that  the  Lord  did  something  extraor- 
dinary for  Swedenborg  to  prepare  him  for  his  mission,  some- 
thing besides  flowing  into  him.  But  cannot  every  one  see, 
who  is  imbued  with  the  true  philosophy  of  the  Heavenly  Doc- 
trines, that  this  implies  that  there  are  two  Gods,  namely,  one 
in  the  influx  of  Divine  Truth,  God  within  you, — and  an- 
other outside,  devising  and  planning  and  considering  expedi- 
ents to  meet  emergencies  ?     We  know  of  no  such  God  as  the 


SWEDENBOItG'S  RELATION  TO  THE  LORD.       77 

latter, — of  none  who  is  not  already  and  always,  and  with  all 
His  attributes,  in  the  Influx  of  Himself  as  Divine  Truth,  who 
is  not  already  and  always  in  that  influx  with  all  that  He  is, 
and  thus  with  all  that  He  has  to  give.  This  idea,  which  is  so 
prevalent,  of  two  Gods, — namely,  one  outside  as  a  sort  of  su- 
perintendent, and  relatively  at  a  distance  doing  the  devising 
and  planning,  and  the  other  inside,  sent  by  the  former  as  an  in- 
flux to  do  the  execution, — is  perfectly  bewildering  and  entirely 
destroys  the  idea  of  one  God.  Hence,  the  very  common  mis- 
understanding of  Swedenborg,  when  he  speaks  of  the  "  Lord's 
appearing  to  him,"  of  the  "  Lord's  instructing  him,"  "  leading 
him,"  "  preparing  him  for  his  mission,"  and  the  like.  It  was 
no  God  outside  of  him  that  did  these  things,  but  God  within 
him,  God  in  the  influx  of  Divine  Truth  that  flowed  into  him ; 
it  was  no  God  outside,  instigating,  instilling,  and  infusing  some- 
thing, in  his  case,  in  a  certain  exceptional  way.  What  was 
exceptional  in  regard  to  Swedenborg? 

There  never  is  anything  excejitional  in  the  Divine  or  the 
Divine  agency.  All  that  was  exceptional  in  Swedenborg's  case 
was  in  his  recipiency,  first,  in  the  germinal  or  potential  genius 
or  form  of  his  mind,  thus  in  his  capabilities  ;  then  in  his  de- 
veloping tastes,  capacities,  dispositions,  and  the  like.  He  was 
prepared  for  his  work  by  the  Lord, — that  is,  by  influx  from  the 
Lord,  thus  by  God  in  him, — but  by  means  and  processes  which 
were  entirely  dependent  for  their  peculiar  mode  of  operation 
upon  what  was  within  and  constituted  his  peculiar  form  of  being. 
Just  as  an  acorn  develops  into  an  oak  not  because  of  any  dif- 
ference in  the  influx  from  what  flows  into  all  seeds,  but  be- 
cause of  thd  diff'erence  of  operation  of  such  influx  caused  by 
the  acorn's  own  peculiar  nature  as  a  recipient  of  such  influx  ; 
so  of  all  men, — so  of  all  angels.  Thus  Swedenborg  was 
prepared  for  his  work  on  identically  the  same  principle  that 
the  oak  is  prepared  to  bear  acorns, — namely,  because  that  was 
the  natural,  orderly,  and  necessary  result  of  the  Divine  Influx 
into  his  peculiar  form  of  mind.     If  he  followed  the  leadings 


Y8  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NE]^ AGE. 

or  promptings  or  impulses  of  such  Influx, — God  witliin  him, 
— as  lie  did,  lie  could  not  help  being  thus  prepared,  any  more 
than  the  acorn,  under  the  required  conditions,  can  help  devel- 
ojiing  into  a  fruit-bearing  tree.  So  that  what  was  special,  ex- 
cepfional,  or  extraordinary  in  Swedcnborg,  did  not  depend  at 
all  upon  anything  special,  exceptional,  or  extraordinary  in  what 
the  Lord  did  for  him,  but  upon  what  was  in  him,  thus  upon 
the  way  in  which  he  received  what  the  Lord  does,  and  equally, 
for  all  men.  So  of  all  other  extraordinary  men,  so  of  each 
and  all  extraordinary  angels, — of  those  who  inspired  the  Word 
into  the  prophets,  and  of  those  who  were  sent  on  any  extraor- 
dinary mission.  All  that  was  special  or  extraordinary  was  not 
in  what  the  Lord  did,  but  in  the  ojyeration  of  what  was  re- 
ceived;  and  the  operation  of  what  was  received  depended  upon 
the  state  and  character  of  the  recipient  vessel. 

This  is  a  great  principle  which  is  never  violated  by  the  Lord 
in  His  relation  to  the  universe,  whether  natural  or  spiritual ; 
it  is  a  principle  which  cannot  be  violated  by  Him.  All  that  is 
is  an  outcome  from  Him,  and  solely  by  the  operation  of  influx  ; 
just  as  is  the  case  with  all  organic  being  in  its  relation  to  life, 
which  is  the  result  of  the  operation  of  such  life  by  influx. 
This  is  the  way  the  plant  is  evolved  and  also  the  animal  body. 
It  is  the  gxeat  law  of  creation  or  of  finitation.  And  does 
finite  life — ■vyhich,  in  the  laiv  of  its  operation,  is  an  exemplifi- 
cation of  the  Infinite  Life — ever  vary  in  its  operations  in  any 
manner  or  degree,  except  so  far  as  its  action  is  modified  by  re- 
cipient conditions  ?  does  finite  life  ever  so  vary  that  the  results 
of  its  operations  do  not  partake  of  its  own  peculiar  individu- 
ality? Can  the  influx  into  the  acorn,  as  thus  modified,  evolve 
anything  but  what  is  wholly  and  distinctively  oak  ?  Can  the 
iiiflux  into  the  egg  evolve  anything  but  what  is,  in  kind,  dis- 
tinctively of  the  parent  bird  ?  Can  influx  into  the  oak,  as  thus 
affected  by  its  recipient  vessel,  evolve  any  other  than  what  is  dis- 
tinctively the  fruit  of  the  oak?  How  can  man  or  angel,  then, 
be  the  instrument,  by  Divine  influx,  of  anything  that  partakes 


SWEDENBORO'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.        79 

not  of  his  own  incliviiluality,  that  has  not  his  own  imaj^c  stamped 
wT^ovx  it, — that  is  not,  in  otlicr  words,  "  varied  a  little"  ?  This 
is  tlic  point. 

4.  Iiulividuality  Sacredly  Intact. 

But  does  this  mar,  in  the  least  possible  degree,  the  lioliness 
of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  ?  Does  it  abate  one  iota  from  Swedcn- 
borg's  writings  as  authority?  Certainly  not.  How  is  this? 
How  can  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  having  come  through  the 
qualifying  [the  "  varying  a  little"]  individuality  of  a  finite 
medium,  be  purely  Divirie  ?  And  the  angel  and  the  prophet  were 
such  mediums,  and  iwcHmma  never,  for  a  mamciit,  in  whdt  they 
did,  divested  of  their  individualify.  Even  the  angel  was  hivi- 
self,  \yas  himself  even  when  so  filled  with  the  Divine  Influx — 
with  Divine  Truth,  with  God — that  he  was  unconscious  for  the 
time  that  he  was  other  than  such  influx,  than  God.  He  still 
possessed  his  individuality  intact,  unmarred ;  and  his  freedom 
and  rationality  were  a  part  of  his  individuality,  and  these 
were  never  more  perfect;  thus  he  was  never  more  perfectly 
angel  or  man  than  when  so  completely  filled  with  the  influx  of 
God,  thus  than  when  so  completely  a  "  servant"  of  God.  Such 
freedom  and  rationality  are,  indeed,  and  at  all  times  and  in  all 
conditions,  indispensable  attributes  of  angelhood  as  well  as  of 
manhood.  They  are  most  essential  parts  of  angel  as  well  as 
of  man,  and  in  action.  Thus  what  passed  through  the  angel  to 
inspire  the  prophet  must  inevitably  have  partaken  somewhat 
of  the  angeFs  individuality.  It  could  not  have  been  finitcd — 
could  not  liave  done  its  work  and  answered  the  Divine  end — if 
this  had  not  been  the  case.  The  angel  was  not,  in  him- 
self, a  Divine  medium,  thus  Divinely  pure ;  he  never  could 
become  so,  though  perpetually  born  and  reborn  to  eternity. 
The  angel  that  was  such  medium  to  tlie  prophet  may  have 
been  in  the  heavens  thousands  or  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  years,  and  in  a  correspondingly  developed,  ineffable  state 
of  light  above  that  of  the  regenerated  man  ;  and  lie  may 
have  been,  if  such  a  thing  is  conceivable,  even  more  obedient 


80  SWEDENBORO  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

to  the  Divine  influx  than  the  organism  of  the  phint  is  to  its 
influx  of  life ;  yet  his  freedom  and  rationality  were  most  essen- 
tial parts  in  his  character  as  such  medium,  and  those,  too,  of 
his  own  peculiar  individuality.  And  the  individuality  of  every 
angel  is  difierent  from  that  of  every  other  angel.  It  required 
a  peculiar  one  to  perform  such  a  function  from  the  Divine,  but 
peculiar  only  in  the  same  sense  that  it  requires  a  peculiar  in- 
dividuality to  perform  any  other  use  in  the  Divine  economy ; 
only  in  the  sense  in  which  one  peculiar  individuality,  so  to 
speak,  or  mechanism  or  organism  of  vegetable  fibre,  is  required 
as  a  medium  to  one  kind  of  fruit,  and  another  to  another  kind. 
But  all  that  has  been  peculiar  in  the  ofiice  or  function  of  any 
man  or  angel  has  been  owing  to  the  development  of  what  was 
peculiar  in  the  potential  germ  of  his  being,  and  not  at  all  to 
anything  afterwards  grafted  on,"  "  infused,"  or  "  instilled"  by 
the  Lord  as  a  Divine  expedient. 

We  mean  to  say  that  the  angels,  in  all  they  do,  act  as  of  them- 
selves, and  that  the  work  they  do  is  in  all  cases  their  work,  and 
to  the  extent  that  their  individuality  is  in  it ;  and  their  indi- 
viduality is  always  in  it,  just  as  really  so  as  the  individuality 
or  quality  of  the  apple-tree  is  in  the  apple,  and  each  of  its 
kind.  But  to  be  led  by  the  Lord,  let  it  be  always  remembered, 
is  one  and  the  first  of  the  essential  elements  of  angelic,  as  it  is 
of  true  human,  life.  No  act  devoid  of  such  element  is,  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word,  either  an  angelic  or  a  human  act.  But 
man's  being  led  by  the  Lord  is  a  very  diff'erent  thing  from  a 
beast's  being  led  by  a  man,  a  soldier  by  a  general,  or  a  child 
even  by  a  parent.  The  Lord  leads  angels  and  regenerated 
men  "  in  freedom  according  to  reason^  This  is  the  reason 
why  their  individuality  is  in  all  cases  in  their  work.  It  is 
their  rationality  and  freedom  that  enable  them  to  be,  in  the 
highest  sense  and  with  the  most  perfect  efficiency,  the  Lord's 
agents.  The  "  tables"  that  were  formed  by  the  Lord  were 
broken  because  there  was  nothing  finite  or  human  in  them  to 
accommodate  them  to  the  finite  or  human  state  of  mind. 


SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.        81 

5.    Why  the  Word  is  Uohj  in  the  Letter. 

Thus  we  see  why  the  letter  of  the  Word  must  be  '"  varictl  a 
little,"  why  it  must  partake  of  the  peculiar  iudividuality  of  the 
agents — and  angelic  as  well  as  human  agents — through  whom  it 
came.  It  would  have  been  worthless  for  its  Divine  end  with- 
out sucli  "variation."  But  this  fact,  let  me  repeat,  does  not 
mar  in  the  least  the  holiness  of  the  letter.  For  the  word- 
inspiring  angel  was  in  such  relation  to  the  inflowing  Divine, 
was  in  such  perfect  obedience,  thus  in  such  oneness  with  the 
Divine,  that  the  Divine  Truth,  through  the  individual,  finiting 
agency  of  the  angel,  ultimated  itself  in  LANGUAGE  OF  cor- 
respondence. This  is  plainly  all  that  was  essential  to  its 
holiness,  all  that  was  necessary  to  make  the  words  of  the 
prophets  virtually  the  Lord's  words ;  they  were  WORDS  OP 
CORRESPONDENCE.  They  were  words,  therefore,  that  the  Di- 
vine Truth  could  flow  into  and  rest  in  as  its  ultimate  con- 
tinent and  basis.  The  words  of  the  Bible  were  not,  and  they 
could  not  have  been,  the  Lord's  words  in  any  other  sense  than 
that  of  their  correspondence.  There  is  nothing  distinctively 
and  Divinely  His,  from  the  highest  clear  down  to  the  very 
lowest,  but  what  is  so  in  virtue  of  its  correspondence.  Nothing 
is  His  that  does  not  correspond.  This  is  a  great  principle 
which  is  exemplified  in  all  things  in  nature  even,  and  made 
plain  in  the  Writings.  The  letter  of  the  Word  is  as  the  bark 
of  the  tree  or  the  skin  of  an  animal.  Does  not  the  bark 
correspond  to  the  organic  life  of  the  tree  ?  Does  it  corre- 
spond to  the  life  of  any  other  tree  even  of  the  same  kind  ? 
And  is  not  the  same  true  of  the  skin  in  its  relation  to  the  life 
of  the  body  ?  Swedenborg  speaks  of  the  letter  of  the  AVord 
as  its  skin  ;  and,  because  the  letter  is  denoted  by  the  skin, 
the  skin  of  Moses'  face,  when  he  came  down  from  the  Mount, 
was  said  to  shine. 

5 


82  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

6.  Instructed  hy  Angels. 

Swcdenborg  was  not  instructed  in  the  Doctrines  of  the  New 
Church  by  tiny  angel,  but  by  the  Lord  alone  while  reading  the 
Word.  T.  C.  R.  779.  This  is  brimful  of  significance.  The 
angels  could  not,  of  course,  instruct  him  about  the  letter  of 
the  Word.  They  were  only  in  the  internal  sense,  the  natural 
meaning  not  being  in  the  heavens  or  cognizable  to  the  angels. 
How  could  they  then  "  explain"  the  Sacred  Scriptures?  How 
could  they  instruct  him  in  or  about  the  different  styles  of  the 
Scriptures  ?  How  could  they  give  him  the  kind  of  informa- 
tion the  thirsting,  rational  man  needs  about  the  science  of 
correspondences?  How  could  they  teach  him  the  signification 
of  Biblical  words  and  phrases  and  sentences?  Such  revela- 
tions, such  openings  or  unveilings  of  Scripture,  must  come,  if 
at  all,  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  man  on  earth.  An 
angel  could  not  have  inspired  words,  as  he  did  into  the  proph- 
ets, or  thoughts  even,  or  ideas  or  principles,  in  explanations  of 
natural  words  or  ideas  which  he  [the  angel]  knew  nothing 
about.  Besides,  an  angel  is  one  who  has  come  into  the  order 
of  the  Lord's  Providence,  into  its  current  or  "  stream."  He 
is,  therefore,  so  far,  in  correspondence;  he  so  far  thinks, 
speaks,  and  acts  from  coi-respondence.  If,  therefore,  he  were 
filled  by  the  Lord, — that  is,  by  the  influx  of  Divine  Truth,  as 
such  angel  would  be, — and  should  inspire  words,  or  ideas  to  be 
clothed  with  words,  in  Swedenborg's  mind,  such  words  would 
be  words  of  correspondence^  and  Swedenborg's  writings  would, 
therefore,  be  holy  writings  or  Sacred  Scriptures ;  they  would 
be  the  Lord's  writings,  indeed,  and  thus  didactic  instead  of 
explanatory  in  their  character.  Thus  we  see  why  Swedenborg 
was  not  instructed  by  angels.  It  was  not  Sacred  Scriptures,  but 
an  explanation  of  Sacred  Scriptures,  that  was  needed ;  and  the 
angels  could  not  give  this. 


SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.        83 

7.   Writings  not  Corrcsj)ondences. 

Yes,  the  fact  that  Swedenborg's  writings  are  not  in  the  lan- 
guage of  correspondences,  is  an  insurmountable  objection  to 
their  being  regarded  as  the  Lord's  writings.  It  is  admitted 
that  they  are  not  in  such  language ;  but  it  is  said  that  "  the 
language  of  correspondence  is  not  necessarily  inspired ;"  that 
the  book  of  Job  and  other  ancient  books  were  written  in  "  cor- 
respondences, and  yet  were  not  Divinely  inspired."  Sweden- 
borg  says,  in  "Arcana  Coelestia"  (No.  175G),  that  "the  most 
ancient  style  of  writing  was  representative  /"  that  even  "  profane 
writers  in  those  times  composed  their  histories  thus,  and  even 
the  things  of  civil  and  moral  life  were  thus  treated;  so  that 
nothing  that  was  written  was  altogether  such  as  it  appeared  in 
the  letter.  .  .  .  All  books  of  the  church  in  those  times  were 
therefore  written  in  this  style."  It  is,  indeed,  a  question 
whether,  considering  the  nature  of  the  people  and  of  their 
language  in  those  times,  they  could  have  written  in  any  other 
style. 

But  the  language  of  "  representatives"  and  "  significativcs" 
is  not  necessarily  the  language  of  correspondences.  All  cor- 
respondences are  representatives,  but  the  converse  is  not  true. 
"  llepresentatives  are  nothing  but  images  of  spiritual  things 
in  natural,  and  when  the  latter  are  rightly  represented  in  the 
former  they  then  correspond."  A.  C.  4044.  "  The  things 
which  flow  in  from  the  spiritual  world,  and  are  presented  in 
the  natural,  are  in  general  representations ;  and  so  far  as  they 
AGREE  together  they  are  correspondences."  2989,2990.  "Rep- 
resentatives are  the  external  things  which  are  put  forth  as 
effigies  of  internal  things,  and  those  which  concord,  or  which 
are  rightly  represented,  are  correspondences,"  as  expressed  by 
liich.  This  is  all  very  plain.  Correspondence  is  the  relation 
existing  between  cause  and  efi"ect,  and  between  spiritual  things 
and  natural,  when  they  agree  ;  without  agreement  there  is  not 
correspondence,  but  only  representation.  The  difference  between 


84  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

correspondence  and  representation  is  clearly  and  abundantly 
sliown  by  Svvedenborg.  The  Sacred  Scriptures  were  written 
in  the  language  of  correspondences  as  well  as  of  representa- 
tives ;  and  this  is  so  because  there  is  agreement.  Other  ancient 
books  were  written  only  in  the  language  of  representatives. 

But  what  if  it  were  admitted  that  such  books  were  written 
in  the  language  of  correspondences,  would  this  be  any  evidence 
that  the  Lord  could  or  would  write  in  any  other  language  ? 
The  argument  would  amount  to  nothing,  even  with  this  admis- 
sion. What!  human,  even  "  profane,"  writings  in  the  language 
of  correspondences,  and  the  Lord's  writings  not?  Whereas 
human  writings  cannot  be  in  that  language,  and  the  Lord's 
writings  cannot  be  in  any  other,  "  the  style  of  the  Word 
[thus  of  the  Lord,  who  is  the  Word  in  its  '  spirit  and  life'] 
is  the  very  Divine  style,  ...  is  such  that  there  is  holiness  in 
every  sentence,  in  every  word,  yea,  in  some  instances,  in  the 
very  letters."  T.  C.  R.  191.  "  The  Word  is  written  by  mere 
correspondences,  wherefore  the  Lord,  hecause  He  spoke  from 
the  Divine,  spahe from,  correspondences.^^  And  why?  "Be- 
cause," it  is  added,  "  what  is  from  the  Divine,  this,  in  nature, 
falls  into  such  things  as  correspond  to  Divine  things."  T.  C.  E.. 
201.  The  Lord  spoke  from  correspondences  because  He  spoke 
from  the  Divine.  How  full  of  significance  !  nothing  less  than 
that  the  language  of  correspondences  is  the  language,  and  the 
only  language,  of  the  Lord.  Nothing,  nothing  whatever,  comes 
from  Him  but  in  correspondence ;  this  is  the  one  only  law  of 
its  efflux  and  influx.  All  eflFects  of  the  operation,  then,  of 
such  efflux  and  influx  must  be — so  far  as  He  is  in  them,  and 
they  are,  therefore.  His  —  correspondences.  It  cannot  be 
otherwise. 

What  is  the  inevitable  conclusion,  then,  in  regard  to  Swe- 
denborg's  writings,  ir.  they  are  the  Lord's  writings,  but  that 
their  language  is  the  language  of  correspondences  ?  This  is 
just  as  surely  the  case  as  that  eff"ects  follow  causes,  and  that 
they  are  related  to  each  other  by  correspondence.     And  those 


SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.      85 

Writings  are  eiFects  of  which,  if  the  Lord  is  distinctively  and 
peculiarly  the  author,  He  is  the  cause.  And  the  corre- 
spondence could  not  possibly  have  been  destroyed  but  by  the 
operation  of  such  cause  through  a  self-conscious,  rationally 
responsible,  modifying  medium,  such  as  Swedenborg  was. 
Wherever  correspondence  fiiils,  it  is  because  there  the  Divine 
fails  as  the  tinqaalificd  or  unmodified  cause.  Hence  those 
Writings  either  have  an  internal  sense  and  need  themselves  to 
be  explained,  or  they  are  not  the  Lord's  writings. 

8.  Instructed  hy  tlte  Lord. 

But  how  was  Swedenborg  instructed  by  the  Lord  ?  This 
question  has  been  substantially  answered  in  what  was  said  on 
the  subject  of  illustration,  revelation  from  perception,  and  in- 
spiration. Swedenborg,  like  all  other  regenerated  men,  was  in- 
structed by  the  Lord  as  the  Word,  thus  by  the  Lord  as  an  influx 
of  Divine  Truth.  Why  is  there  instruction  in  such  influx  ?  be- 
cause, in  Swedenborg's  own  language,  it  "  is  illumination  which 
gives  the  faculty  of  apperceiving  and  understanding  truth.  This 
illumination  is  from  the  light  of  heaven,  which  is  from  the  Lord. 
This  light  is  nothing  else  than  Divine  Truth."  A.  C.  5GG8. 
Such  influx  or  such  instruction  takes  place  while  man  is  read- 
ing the  Word.  "  Heaven,  which  is  in  the  internal  sense  of  the 
Word,  flows  in  with  the  man  ichose  internal  man  is  open  when 
he  reads  the  Word,  enlightens  him,  gives  him  perception,  and 
thus  teaches  him.  Yea,  .  .  .  [such  a]  man's  internal  man  is 
in  the  internal  sense  of  its  own  accord,  .  .  .  although  he  is 
not  aware  of  it."  A.  C.  10,400.  "  The  Lord  teaches  everyone 
by  the  Word,"  thus  by  influx.  Therefore  Swedenborg  was  no 
exception  in  this  respect.  But  the  illuminating  effects  of  such 
influx  from  the  Lord,  as  shown  elsewhere,  are  according  to  the 
subject's  peculiar  character,  condition,  and  form  of  mind.  All 
men  are  different  in  these  respects.  "  The  Lord  [also]  teaches 
man  according  to  the  Icnoidedges  that  are  with  him,  and  docs 
not  immediately  infuse  new  knowledges  into  him'     (T.  0.  11. 


8G  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

208) ;  or,  as  expressed  in  A.  C.  10,400,  "  man's  illustration, 
when  he  reads  the  Word,  is  according  to  the  light  in  which  he 
may  be  by  the  knowledges  that  are  with  him."  It  is  in  this 
way  that  "  the  man  who  is  led  by  the  Lord  is  taught  by  Him 
from  day  to  day  what  he  is  to  do  and  to  speak,  and  also  what 
he  is  to  preach  and  write  ;  for  when  evils  are  removed,  then 
he  is  continually  under  the  Lord's  auspices,  and  enjoys  illus- 
tration. "  But" — and  this  is  directly  to  the  point — "  he  is  led 
and  taught  by  the  Lord,  not  immediately  or  by  any  perceptible 
inspiration,  but  by  influx  into  his  spiritual  delight,  ichence  he 
has  perception  according  to  the  truths  of  which  his  understand- 
ing is  composed."  A.  E.  825.  Again,  such  persons  "  have  a 
certain  interior  perception  in  regard  to  those  things  which  are 
to  be  done,  especially  during  the  act."  S.  J).  892.  Sweden- 
borg  testifies  abundantly  to  the  fact  that  he  was  taught  by  the 
Lord  precisely  as  other  regenerated  men  are, — namely,  by  in- 
flux and  illustration.  "  The  Lord  alone  taught  me,  who  re- 
vealed Himself  to  me,  and  afterwards  appeared,  and  still 
appears,  before  my  eyes  like  the  smi,  ...  as  He  appears  to 
the  angels,  and  illustrated  me."  D.  P.  135.  "  There  was  a 
dictation  in  the  thought  .  .  .  which  was  thereby  led  to  an  ?m- 
derstanding,"  etc.  Swedenborg  "  was  gifted  with  a  perfect 
inspiration."  But  "  inspiration  is  not  dictation,  but  is  influx 
from  the  Divine."  A.  C.  9094. 

How  plainly  all  this  shows  how  the  Lord  teaches  the  re- 
generated man,  and  how  therefore  He  taught  Swedenborg, 
— namely,  by  influx, — as  the  one  only  way  so  far  as  the  Lord  is 
concerned !  All  instruction  by  the  Lord  is  in  the  operation  and 
result  of  influx,  which  influx  is  the  same  with  all  men ;  it  is  a 
sort  of  "  dictation  in  the  thought,"  and  thence  "  understand- 
ing." The  influx  of  Divine  Truth  stimulates  thought,  and 
that  in  the  light  of  such  truth  is  followed  by  understanding. 
But  the  nature  of  the  understanding,  of  the  illustration  or 
revelation, — that  is,  of  the  instruction  by  the  Lord,  or  of  the 
Lord's  "  dictation,"  as  it  is  sometimes  called, — depends  upon 


SWEDENBORG'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.        87 

the  peculiar  genius,  development,  learning,  etc.,  of  the  recipient. 
It  is  what  is  peculiar,  or  special,  or  exceptional,  or  extraor- 
dinary ill  (he  recipient  himself,  and  this  alone,  that  is  the 
cause,  and  the  sole  cause,  of  all  that  is  peculiar,  special,  excep- 
tional, or  extraordinary  in  the  Lord's  relation  to  him.  It  was, 
first,  Swedenborg's  native  genius — it  was  what  was  first  in  him 
in  potency,  and  not  what  was  afterwards  put  into  him  ;  it  was 
therefore  what  he  could  be  developed  into,  and  was,  in  fact, 
developed  into,  and  not  what  the  Lord  did  for  him  more  or 
difi"erent  from  what  He  does  for  all  men — that  was  the  cause 
of  all  that  was  special  or  extraordinary  in  him  in  his  relation 
to  the  Lord,  or  in  his  relation  to  his  use  or  mission.  It  was 
this  that  caused  that  the  same  influx  into  him  whicli  flows 
into  other  men,  thus  the  same  instruction  from  the  Lord  which 
is  given  to  other  men,  resulted  in  such  extraordinary  and  widely 
difi^erent  manifestations  in  his  case ;  just  as  it  is  the  potential 
form  of  the  eye  as  differing  from  that  of  the  ear,  and  not  any 
difference  in  the  influx  from  the  heart  and  brain  into  it,  that 
is  the  cause  of  all  that  is  peculiar  and  special  in  the  develop- 
ment and  use  of  the  eye.  The  nature  and  results  of  mediate 
as  well  as  of  immediate  influx  into  the  mind  are  characterized 
solely  by  the  recipient  mind  itself.  The  Lord  taught  Sweden- 
borg  precisely  as  He  teaches  all  men, — that  is,  by  influx  of 
Himself  as  Divine  Truth,  as  Living  Light.  And  Swedenborg 
was  affected  by  and  acted  from  such  influx  precisely  as  is  tlic 
case  with  other  men  in  a  like  state  of  regeneration,  only  wich 
a  difference  determined,  as  with  other  men,  by  what  belonged 
to  and  was  peculiar  to  his  own  mind. 

9.    The  Lord's  Writings. 

What  does  Swedenborg  mean,  then,  by  such  language  as  the 
following,  which  is  sometimes  quoted  to  prove  that  "  Sweden- 
borg's writings  are  the  Lord's  writings?"  Namely,  "  WJuit 
came  from  the  Lord  I  wrote  down,  and  what  came  from  the 
angels  I  did  not  write  down."  A.  C.  1183.     "  I  was  instructed 


88  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

by  no  spirit  and  by  no  angel,  but  by  the  Lord  alone."  "  The 
things  which  I  liave  learned  from  representations,  A'isions,  and 
from  conversations  with  spirits  and  angels,  are  from  the  Lord 
alone."  S.  D.  1(J47.  "A  revelation  of  truths  from  His 
mouth  or  from  His  Word."  "  Dictated  to  me  out  of  heaven." 
"  Written  by  the  Lord  through  me."  "  Whether  I  was  willing 
or  not,  I  had  to  think  and  speak"  [in  a  certain  manner].  "  Do 
not  believe  that  I  took  anything  from  myself  or  from  any 
angel,  but  from  the  Lord  alone." 

These  and  like  passages  seem  to  indicate  that,  different  from 
other  men,  Swedenborg  was  compelled  by  the  Lord  to  write  as 
he  did ;  and  yet  (as  is  admitted),  in  some  mysterious  and  un- 
accountable way,  in  the  full  exercise  of  Ms  understanding  and 
in  j)Ossessi<m  of  his  freedom,  though  the  latter  only  as  regards 
his  "  external  thought."  But  how,  if  Swedenborg's  writings 
can  properly  be  called  "  the  Lord's  writings,"  could  Sweden- 
borg possibly  be  other  than  practically  a  perfectly  controlled, 
passive  instrument,  like  a  "  quill,"  as  expressed  by  one  ?  For, 
so  far  as  they  were  written  by  Swedenborg  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  own  understanding  and  freedom,  though  in  the 
smallest  degree,  he  was  responsible  for  them  as  his  own  writ- 
ings. He  "  lifted  up  his  tool  upon  them,"  and  made  them  his 
instead  of  the  Lord's, — that  is,  there  was  somewhat  of  his 
peculium,  of  his  individuality,  in  them ;  so  that  they  were  just 
as  much  his  as  any  act  of  a  regenerated  man  is  such  regen- 
erated man's  act. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

MAN'S   RELATION   TO   THE   LORD. 

1.    Tlie  Regenerated  Man. 

And  here  is  an  important  point, — namely,  the  difference  be- 
tween a  regenerated  man's  acts  and  the  acts  of  an  unregen- 
erated  man.  There  is  more  of  the  Lord  and  less  of  the  devil — 
i.e.,  less  of  man's  selfish  joro/wmm — in  the  former  than  in  the 
latter.  The  regenerated  man  is  in  the  image  and  likeness  of 
the  Lord,  he  is  in  accord  with  the  Lord's  life,  he  is  in  spon- 
taneous and  loving  obedience  to  the  impulses  of  the  Divine 
Influx.  He  is  lovingly  led  by  the  Lord,  by  th'e  Lord  as  such 
Influx.  What  seems  compulsion  from  a  misinterpretation  of 
some  of  Swedcnborg's  statements  is  reglly  most  essential  free- 
dom. There  is  really  more  of  the  man's  pecidium,  ox  the 
peculimn  o'f  his  distinctive  individuality,  in  what  he  does  in 
his  regenerated  than  in  what  he  does  in  his  unregenerated 
state.  It  must  be  so,  for  there  is  more  of  the  real  man  in 
him.  The  more  fully  and  obediently  he  is  the  Lord's,  the 
more  perfectly  he  is  himself,  for  the  more  completely  he  is 
"created;"  and  this  means  the  more  strongly  is  every  peculiar 
potential  faculty  in  him  brought  out  into  its  actuality.  The 
Lord  does  not  regenerate  and  develop  man  in  the  higher  de- 
grees of  his  nature  in  order  to  hiud  him,  or  make  a  passive 
tool  of  him,  or  to  limit  or  circumscribe,  in  any  sense,  the 
pecuUum  of  his  individuality.  AVhat  Swedenborg  says  of 
himself  in  the  above  passages  is  simply  illustrative  of  general 
principles  as  applied  to  regenerated  men.  And  what  he  says,  in 
such  connection,  helps  us  to  understand  what  will  be  our  own 

6*  89 


90  SWEDENBORO  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

condition  sliould  we  ever  arrive  at  such  high  states  of  regen- 
eration. Whatever  shall  be  our  use,  we  shall  be  "  led  hy  the 
Lord;"  and  we  shall  so  love  to  be  led  by  Him  that  it  will 
seem  impossible  to  be  otherwise  led.  We  shall  be  in  a  state 
of  freedom  like  that  which  the  Lord  is  in.  He  loves  to  do 
the  works  of  love,  and  He  cannot  do  otherwise  than  do  such 
works,  for  He  has  no  love  and  thus  no  power  to  do  otherwise, 
and  freedom  is  to  do  as  one  loves  to  do.  The  whole  sphere 
and  influence  of  heaven  are  the  sphere  and  influence  of  love. 
There  is  a  universal  flowing  in  the  direction  of  the  freedom 
of  love.  The  stronger  one  is  in  love,  then,  the  stronger  he  is 
in  freedom,  and  at  the  same  time  that  he  is  more  the  Lord's  he  is 
more  himself.  The  following  from  Swedenborg  is  in  point,  but 
it  has,  we  think,  been  misinterpreted  :  "  The  universal  heaven 
and  earth,  both  in  general  and  in  particular,  are  governed  by 
a  sphere  proceeding  from  the  Lord.  .  .  .  Whenever  I  speak 
in  this  sphere,  or  when  I  think  in  it,  as  I  now  do  while  I  am 
writing,  each  and  every  thing  is  in  conformity  with  the  action 
of  this  sphere;  and  nothing  can  be  said,  thought,  or  written, 
not  even  the  least  iota,  but  what  is  in  conformity  with  this 
sphere." 

To  live  and  think  and  act  in  "  this  sphere"  is,  of  course,  to 
do  so  from  love,  thus  from  the  Lord  alone,  and  not  from  self- 
love  or  evil  spirits.  It  is  the  very  nature  of  the  angel  and  of 
the  regenerated  man,  of  him  who  has  come  into  harmony  with 
the  sphere  of  the  Divine  Nature,  to  think  and  act  fi'om  love, 
thus  from  the  Lord.  Swedenborg's  case  is  not  an  exceptional 
one  in  this  respect.  What  he  did  and  what  all  do  in  that  state 
of  unity  and  oneness  with  the  Lord  are  the  Lord's  doings, 
and  this  means  that  they  are  the  doings  of  love.  The  regen- 
erated man  and  angel  cannot  help  acting  from  love,  thus  from 
the  Lord,  unless,  for  some  cause,  they  are  let  down  tempora- 
rily from  this  high  state.  They  are  in  a  sense  compelled  so  to 
act,  and  are  so  just  in  proportion  to  the  completeness  of  their 
marriage  union  with  the  Lord.     And  yet  this  is  most  essential 


MAN'S  RELATION   TO    THE  LORD.  91 

freedom.  And  man  and  angel  are  most  completely  themselves 
just  in  proportion  as  they  are  in  the  Lord  and  He  in  them,  and 
they  are  led  by  Him  and  act  from  Him.  And  their  acts  are 
most  distinctly  and  peculiarly  their  own  the  more  distinctly 
and  completely  they  are  the  Lord's.  All  this  is  abundantly 
confirmed  by  what  Swcdcnborg  says  about  others,  and  by  what 
he  says  about  himself  or  about  his  own  experience  as  illustra- 
tive of  general  principles. 

2.  IIoio  the  Lord  governs  Men. 

It  is  said  by  another  that  "  when  nian's  regeneration  is 
accomplished,  then  he  no  longer  governs  himself,  but  is  gov- 
erned by  the  Lord."  This,  of  course,  is  true  of  all  men. 
And  how  is  he  governed  by  the  Lord  ?  Does  the  Lord  govern 
him  in  an  arbitrary  way,  telling  him  in  words  or  in  any  other 
finite  form  to  do  this  or  to  do  that,  as  a  master  does  a  servant  ? 
When  a  master  so  commands  a  servant,  the  deed  is  not  the 
servant's,  but  the  master's.  If  the  Lord  governs  regenerated 
men  and  angels  in  this  way,  all  their  deeds  would  be,  resjwnsi- 
bli/,  not  their  deeds,  but  His  deeds.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
wisely  added  to  the  above,  "  And  then  the  Lord  governs  him 
not  only  by  immediate  influx  into  his  will,  but  also  by  mediate 
influx  into  his  understanding."  Why  by  both  ?  Because,  it 
is  further  added,  "  Then  also  will  and  understanding,  good 
and  truth,  mediate  and  immediate  influx  in  him  are  conjoined." 
Because  then  the  man  is  a  perfect  man,  thus  is  completely 
himself,  the  two  influxes  hold  him  in  perfect  balance ;  they  so 
act  in  relation  to  each  other  as  to  leave  man  in  freedom  and 
make  him  responsible  for  his  deeds.  Otherwise  man's  deeds 
would  be  either  wholly  and  thus  responsibly  the  Lord's  deeds, 
or  wholly  and  thus  responsibly  the  deeds  of  the  mediums  of 
the  influx  to  him.  They  certainly  could  not  be  responsibly 
man's  deeds.  Thus,  to  be  governed  by  the  Lord,  by  both 
mediate  and  immediate  influx,  is  to  be  in  most  essential  free- 
dom.    This  is  the  state  into  which  the  Lord  is  constantly 


92  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

striving  to  bring  all  men.  And  He  never,  in  any  case  whatever, 
in  any  manner  whatever,  or  in  any  sense  or  degree  whatever,  so 
far  as  He  is  concerned, — that  is  to  say,  so  far  as  the  inherent 
action  of  influx  from  Him  is  concerned, — does  anything  whatever 
to  interfere  with  or  mar  in  the  least  possible  degree  the  perfec- 
tion of  this  state  of  freedom,  though  there  may  be  appearances 
to  the  contrary,  and  there  are,  we  confess,  many  such  appear- 
ances, and  both  in  the  language  of  Sacred  Scripture  and  also 
of  Swedenborg's  writings.  But  they  are  only  appearances. 
The  Lord  has  not,  and  He  never  had,  any  ends  to  accomplish 
through  any  imperfection,  or  through  suspension  of  any  of 
the  normal  prerogatives,  either  temporary  or  continued,  of  any 
of  His  creatures.  And  a  man  not  in  responsible  freedom,  or 
in  a  state  in  which  his  deeds  are  not  responsibly  his  own,  is 
not  a  man.  There  is  nothing  in  influx — and  this  is  the  Lord's 
only  practical  relation  to  man — to  interfere  with  man's  free- 
dom, but  everything  to  establish  freedom ;  so  that  the  stronger 
the  influx  from  the  Lord,  so  far  as  man  has  come  into  the 
order  of  life,  the  more  perfect  is  his  freedom,  for  the  more 
perfect  is  his  manhood.  No  angel  was  ever  more  perfectly  or 
more  responsibly  himself  than  those  who  were  the  Lord's  ser- 
vants, in  connection  with  the  prophets,  in  writing  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  and  no  unregenerate  men  were  ever  in  greater 
freedom  than  were  the  prophets  in  the  performance  of  their 
part  of  the  service.  And,  for  the  same  reason,  never  Avas 
man  more  perfectly  and  more  responsibly  himself  than  was 
Swedenborg  while  writing  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 
And  hence  never  were  any  man's  deeds  more  responsibly  his 
own  deeds  than  were  Swedenborg's  in  every  one  of  the  duties 
of  his  mission.  It  was  the  correspondence,  as  shown  else- 
where, that  made  the  writings  of  the  prophets  the  Lord's 
writings,  or  Sacred  Scriptures  ;  they  were  the  Lord's  by  their 
correspondence.  Swedenborg's  writings,  as  universally  ad- 
mitted, are  without  such  correspondence.  They  are  princi- 
ples or  teachings  or  doctrines  as  conceived  and  formulated  and 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO   THE  LORD.  93 

expressed  in  words  by  a  blind  in  the  very  light  of  heaven,  by 
a  man  who,  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  on  earth  among  men, 
and  thus  in  natural  language,  was  also  gifted  with  revelation 
from  perception ;  by  a  man,  therefore,  who  could  explain  to 
men  such  high  and  heavenly  principles,  teachings,  or  doctrines. 
Yes,  Swedenborg  was  "led,"  "taught,"  "  governed,"  by  the 
Lord,  and  "  by  the  Lord  alone,"  but  in  no  arbitrary  way,  by 
no  arbitrary  process  of  "  insinuation,"  "  dictation,"  or  "  instil- 
lation," as  some  suppose,  and  as  some  of  Swedenborg's  state- 
ments lead  a  mind  blind  to  the  spirit  and  philosophy  of  his 
writing  to  suppose ;  but  he  was  led,  taught,  etc.,  by  influx, 
thus  by  precisely  that  process  by  which  the  Lord  leads, 
teaches,  and  governs  all  men  and  angels,  and  this  means  that 
he  was  led  and  taught  and  governed  "  in  freedom  according  to 
reason,"  and  thus  as  a  full  and  perfect  man. 

3.    Certain  Passages  :    What  they  Shoiv. 

Many  of  the  passages  quoted  from  the  Writings  to  prove 
that  Swedenborg  was  only  as  an  irresponsible  scribe  or  a  mere 
amanuensis  of  the  Lord  show,  on  the  contrary,  how  much 
there  is  to  learn  about  a  man  in  his  regenerated  or  angelic 
state  in  his  relation  to  the  Lord.  The  mode  of  operation  of 
influx  from  the  Lord  in  leading,  teaching,  and  governing  all 
regenerated  men  and  angels,  as  taught  and  exemplified  in 
Swedenborg's  own  individual  case,  is  exceedingly  instructive 
and  interesting.  Swedenborg's  case,  or  what  he  says  about 
himself,  is  a  grand  exemplification  of  a  regenerated,  or  of  a 
highly-advanced  regenerating,  man's  relation  to  the  Lord ;  for 
— we  insist  upon  it — tliere  is,  and  there  can  be,  no  exceptional 
cases  in  what  the  Lord  does  for  man,  any  more  than  there  is 
in  what  the  sun  does  for  flowers  and  trees.  No  one  imbued 
with  the  real  spirit  and  philosophy  of  the  Writings  can  for  a 
moment  regard  what  Swedenborg  says  about  himself  as  at  all 
exceptional  in  what  the  Lord  did  for  him,  or  exceptional  in 
any  other  sense  than  as  depending  entirely  upon  his  own  recipi- 


9-4  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

ency.  And  the  passages  so  often  quoted  from  the  Writings 
to  show  that  they  are  the  Lord's  writings,  thus  "  Holy  Writ- 
ings," Sacred  Scriptures,  or  "  the  Word  without  the  external 
sense,"  no  more  show  that  they  are  the  Lord's  writings  than 
they  show  that  all  the  works  of  both  regenerated  men  and 
angels  are  responsibly  the  Lord's  works.  That  Swedenborg 
was — different  from  other  men  and  angels — consciously  in  both 
worlds  at  the  same  time  does  not  in  the  least  degree  affect  the 
question  of  his  freedom  and  thus  of  his  own  exclusive  rational 
responsibility  for  what  he  wrote  ;  it  only  enabled  him  to  do, 
as  the  Lord's  servant,  what  he  could  not  otherwise  have  done ; 
it  only  afforded  different  conditions  of  mind  as  modifiers  of 
the  operations  of  the  same  influx  from  the  Lord  that  flows 
into  all  minds.  Swedenborg's  intromission  into  the  other  life 
— the  real  significance  of  which  we  think  is  often  misunder- 
stood— was,  like  his  peculiar  form  of  mind,  his  genius,  his 
tastes,  his  remarkable  learning, — in  a  word,  like  every  other 
trait  or  disposition  of  his  individual  character, — only  one  of  the 
many  modifying  conditions  through  which  the  Divine  Influx 
operated,  first  to  prepare  him  for,  and  then  to  enable  him 
efficiently  to  perform,  the  important  works  of  his  mission. 

4.  Strange  Conclusions. 

Strange  to  say,  it  is  claimed  by  some  that  even  the  "  Spiritual 
Diary"  is  the  Lord's  writing,  thus  "  equally  the  Woi'd  with 
Swedenborgs  other  writings,"  though,  like  the  rest,  the  "  Word 
without  the  literal  sense."     The  following  is  quoted  in  proof: 

"  In  general,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  everything 
written  in  this  book  [^.e.,  in  S.  D.]  has  not  been  written  by  me 
otherwise  than  from  living  experience,  from  conversations  with 
spirits  and  angels,  from  thought  like  tacit  speech  communicated 
to  me  while  writing,  from  things  insinuated  by  those  who  were 
present  during  such  experiences,  and  under  whose  direction  I 
was  while  thinking  and  writing,  even  as  to  my  hand ;  so  that 
all  things  contained  in  these  three  books,  and  likewise  in  other 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO    THE  LORD.  95 

places,  although  they  frequently  do  not  cohere,  are  neverthe- 
less experiences  of  facts  derived  in  their  own  peculiar  way 
from  spirits  and  angels."  S.  D.  2894. 

Again  :  "  What  I  have  learned  from  representativesj  visions, 
and  from  conversations  with  spirits  and  angels,  is  fi*om  the 
Lord  alone."  S.  D.  1647. 

Again,  Swedenborg  says,  respecting  the  contents  of  the  "  Spir- 
itual Diary  :"  "  These  are  the  things  which  I  have  now  learned 
for  several  years  by  living  experience,  so  that  they  are  among 
the  things  with  which  I  am  acquainted  by  instruction  better 
than  with  other  things."  S.  D.  3788,  And  again,  "  these 
things  have  been  written  by  influx  from  heaven,  from  the 
wisdom  of  the  angels  there." 

Who,  in  the  light  of  the  spirit  and  philosoi^hy  of  the 
Heavenly  Doctrines,  can  see  any  evidence  whatever  in  these 
quotations  that  they  [the  quotations]  are  the  Lord  speaking 
to  Swedenborg  ? 

The  "  Spiritual  Diary"  is  a  record  of  facts  of  Swedenborg's 
"  living  experiences"  when  in  society  with  spirits  and  angels. 
Did  he  write  them  in  the  free  exercise  of  his  own  individual 
thought,  and  according  to  his  own  individual  perception  and 
xinderstanding  and  end  in  view  ?  Did  he  write  them  as  a  man 
fully  responsible  for  what  he  wrote,  just  as  you  and  I  and  all 
men  write?  Or  was  his  freedom,  and  thus  his  responsibility, 
modified  by  some  Divine  agency  outside  or  independent  of  that 
Influx  ?  We  know  of  no  such  agency,  we  never  heard  of  any  ; 
we  know  of  no  agency  from  the  Lord  but  what  is  contained  in 
the  influx  from  Him,  and  influx  that  is  never  in  any  way 
modified  in  its  operation  but  by  the  recipient  vessel.  There 
is  nothing  implied  in  the  fact  of  his  "  conversations  with 
spirits  and  angels,"  of  "  thought  like  tacit  speech  communi- 
cated to  him,"  of  "things  insinuated  by  those  present,"  of  his 
being  under  "  their  direction  while  thinking  and  writing  even 
as  to  his  hand,"  thus  in  the  "  experiences  of  facts  derived  in 
their  own  peculiar   way  from    spirits  and  angels," — nothing 


96  SWEDENBORG  ANV    THE  NEW  AGE. 

■whatever  in  all  this,  implying  that  the  Lord  really  had  any- 
thing more  to  do  with  Swedenborg's  diary  than  He  has  with 
the  doings  of  all  good  men  and  angels  whose  sweetest  delight 
is  to  be  led  by  Him,  or  who  so  love  to  be  led  by  Him  that  to 
be  led  otherwise  would  be  to  be  led  contrary  to  their  strongest 
impulse,  thus  in  subversion  of  their  freedom.  Such  state- 
ments, therefore,  from  Swedenborg,  contain  no  evidence  what- 
ever that  the  S.  D.  was  "  written  by  the  Lord." 

5.  "  Led  hy  the  Lorcir 

But  why  does  Swedenborg  say,  "  What  I  have  learned  from 
representations,  visions,  and  from  conversations  with  spirits  and 
angels,  is  from  the  Lord  alone'''  ?  He  also  says,  in  close  con- 
nection, "  Whenever  there  was  any  representation,  vision,  and 
discourse,  I  was  kept  interiorly  and  inmostly  in  reflection  upon 
it,  as  to  what  thence  was  useful  and  good,  thus  what  I  might 
learn  therefrom.  .  .  .  Thus  have  I  been  instructed ;  conse- 
quently by  no  spirit,  nor  by  any  angel,  but  by  the  Lord  alone, 
from  Whom  is  all  truth  and  good ;  .  .  .  '  when  they  wished 
to  instruct'  or  to  persuade  me,  I  perceived  an  interior  or  inti- 
mate persuasion  that  the  thing  was  so  and  so,  and  not  as  they 
wished."  S.  D.  1647.  And  this  means  substantially  that  he 
was  in  the  love  of  truth  for  the  sake  of  use  or  in  the  good  of 
love  from  the  Lord.  Thus  he  was  led  by  immediate  influx 
into  his  will,  conjoined  with  mediate  influx  into  his  under- 
standing, thus  by  the  Lord  alone.  He  loved  what  the  Lord 
loved.  The  Lord's  love  flowed  into  his  love, — was,  indeed,  the 
very  life  of  it.  He  saw  and  knew  and  experienced  that  this 
.was  so.  How  could  it  possibly  be  otherwise  than  that  he 
should  be  led  by  the  Love  that  filled  his  love  when  it  was  his 
regenerated  nature,  thus  his  greatest  delight  to  be  so  led  ?  and 
this  it  was  to  be  led  by  the  Lord.  He  did  nothing  without 
interiorly  and  inmostly  considering  whether  it  was  useful, 
whether  he  was  thereby  doing  the  good  which  he  so  loved  to 
do.    His  love  of  use  held  him  in  such  interior  reflection.    And 


MAN'S  RELATION   TO    THE  LORD.  97 

this  was  being-  led  by  the  Lord, —  that  is,  by  the  influx  of  Divine 
Truth  into  his  mind,  which  influx  is  the  Lord  in  His  prac- 
tical relation  to  us, — but  in  freedom  and  according  to  his  own 
thus  enlightened  judgment,  and  not  by  the  suggestions  or  in- 
fluence of  any  spirit  or  angel. 

6.   Swcdenhorg  as  Servant  of  the  Lord. 

And  all  this  shows  completely  and  peculiarly  that  all  his 
actions,  of  whatever  kind,  were  distinctively  his  own ;  and  it 
also  shows  how  lovingly  and  faithfully  and  unqualifiedly,  and 
in  all  his  wonderfully  developed,  manly  .faculties,  he  was  the 
Lord's  servant, — that  is,  the  servant  of  all  that  is  divinely 
good  and  true.  He  suffered  himself  to  be  led  and  influenced 
by  no  self-interest,  thus  by  no  evil  spii-it.  He  even  permitted 
no  good  spirit  or  angel  to  instruct  him  without  inmostly  weigh- 
ing and  considering  everything,  whether  it  was  uaeful.  He 
had  come  to  be  in  every  sense  a  man  ;  and  he  therefore  could 
and  did  look  to  the  Lord  alone,  the  One  only  Source  of  all 
good  and  all  truth,  and  acted  from  Him  alone,  and  he  as  nat- 
urally and  spontaneously  did  so  as  the  flower  opens  its  petals 
to  the  sun  :  how  was  it  possible  for  him  to  do  otherwise  with- 
out doing  violence  to  the  great  central  element  of  his  being, — 
namely,  his  indomitable  love  of  use, — thus  without  annihilating 
all  that  constituted  and  ennobled  his  distinctive  manhood  ? 
How  preposterous,  then,  to  talk  about  his  acts  as  the  Lord's 
acts,  which  you  may  with  just  as  much  propriety  do  as  call 
any  of  his  writings  the  Lord's  writings !  For  it  was  the  same 
man,  and  with  the  same  •'  good  of  love  from  the  Lord"  in 
him,  that  wrote  letters  and  did  other  good  deeds,  who  wrote 
the  "Spiritual  Diary''  and  other  books.  Why  call  a  part  of  his 
doings  the  Lord's,  and  not  all  ?  Was  he  not  identically  the 
same  man,  and  did  he  not  receive  identically  the  same  influx 
from  the  Lord,  whether  he  was  lovingly  serving  Him  in  one 
way  or  in  another?     Why  the  discrimination? 

Strange  that  perhaps  the  most  perfect,  the  most  Godlike 


98  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

man  that  ever  lived,  one  who  had  become  so  perfectly,  and 
with  such  splendid  qualifications  for  one  of  the  greatest  of 
uses,  tlic  servant  of  the  Lord,  should  be  thus  divested  of  his 
real  manhood  in  his  capacity  as  such  servant,  and  become  in 
any  sense  or  manner  or  degree  as  a  passive  instrument !  and 
especially  in  a  service  in  which,  when  truly  understood,  his 
peculiar  and  distinctive  manhood  was  a  most  essential  and 
indispensable  element !  We  find  nothing  whatever  in  the 
Writings  against  the  statement,  but  everything  supporting  it, 
— namely,  that  every  regenerated,  manhood  faculty  of  Sweden- 
borg's  nature,  and  even  everything  of  his  own  peculiar,  indi- 
vidual character,  thus  of  his  whole  man,  was  in  the  most  un- 
restrained, the  freest  possible  action,  in  all  and  every  part  of 
his  service,  when  acting  from  and  as  servant  of  the  Lord. 
And  this  is  true  of  every  man ;  just  in  proportion  as  he  is  in 
a  state  to  he  led  hy  and  to  act  from  the  Lord,  is  he  most  free, 
is  he  most  truly  and  really  and  livingly  himself,  and  are  his 
actions  most  distinctively,  peculiarly,  and  responsibly  his  own ; 
and  he  is  most  emphatically  a  Clodlike  man.  Swedenborg 
never  could  have  been  more  livingly  himself,  and  more  a  man, 
and  more  responsible  for  what  he  did,  than  while  he  was  medi- 
tating upon  the  Word  and  writing  the  doctrines  of  the  New 
Church  ;  and  his  whole  history  and  experience,  as  described  by 
liimself,  shows  this.  It  is  this  fact, — namely,  that  Swedenborg 
was  so  perfectly,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  a  man,  and  that 
he  was  so  intensely  a  rational  and  a  free  man,  and  that  every- 
thing that  came  from  him  came  through  such  a  Godlike  and 
such  a  free  rationality, — it  is  this  fact,  I  say,  that  gives  his 
writings  such  inestimable  value,  and  such  unrivalled  authority 
with  the  Age, — with  the  peculiar  kind  of  manhood  humanity 
now  developing  and  for  which  they  are  designed.  It  is  the 
stdmp  oi'Jiiiite  hninaiiify  upon  them  that  brings  them  within  the 
reach,  and  accommodates  them  to  the  wants,  of  a  less  advanced, 
and  yet  a  progressive,  regenerating  state  of  humanity.  God's 
influx  into  and  through  nature,  becomes  adapted  to  the  condi- 


MAN'S  RELATION     TO    THE  LORD.  99 

tions  and  wants  of  nature  ;  His  influx  into  and  through  perfect, 
free,  rational  mind,  becomes  adapted  to  the  wants  of  such  mind. 
The  "  Thus-saith-tlie-Lord"  mode  of  revelation  was  adapted 
to  man,  or  to  an  Age  of  man,  incapable  of  rational  freedom  ; 
and,  by  a  wonderful  providence,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  in- 
flux itself,  the  influx  of  Divine  Truth  from  the  Lord  sponta- 
neously took,  through  the  mediums  of  it,  the  form  of  prescribed 
laws  and  principles  to  be  literally  and  blindly  obeyed.  There 
was  no  medium  through  which  the  Word,  or  such  Influx, 
could  take  any  other  form,  nor  was  it  necessary ;  there  was  no 
use  for  it  as  rational  truth  in  the  age  in  which  it  was  tjiven  as 
"  Tlius  saith  the  Lord.''''  But  authority  in  any  such  form  is 
certainly  not  adapted  to  men  who  are  not  only  capable  of 
rational  freedom,  but  are  actually  advancing  into  it ;  and  it  is 
for  such  men,  it  was  for  an  age  of  men, — be  it  remembered, — 
•of  men  in  a  dift'erent  and  in  a  higher  sense  than  ever  existed 
before,  that  Swedenborg  wrote ;  and  such  men  will  have  their 
rationality  and  their  freedom  cultivated,  developed,  and  en- 
larged by  a  devout  study  of  his  writings  and  a  life  according 
to  the  beautiful  and  wonderful  truths  revealed  in  them. 

Yes,  we  confess  that  Swedenborg  was  led  by  the  Lord ;  that 
he  loved,  thought,  wrote  from  the  Lord.  We  have  no  doubt 
about  it, — for,  such  is  the  very  nature  of  the  regenerated  man, 
it  could  not  be  otherwise, — and  yet  he  acted  in  freedom,  acted 
according  to  his  regenerated  nature.  He  consciously  lived  and 
was  led  by  the  Lord  in  all  that  he  did, — he  would  not  have 
been  the  perfect  man  he  was  if  it  had  not  been  so ;  but 
by  the  Lord,  it  should  always  be  remembered,  is  meant  the 
Lord  as  that  Influx  of  Divine  Truth  which  has  in  it,  in  an 
infinite  degree,  every  element  of  that  manhood  which  it  is  in 
unfailing  eff"ort  to  beget  and  produce  in  man  in  a  finite  degree. 
Among  these  elements,  freedom  and  rationality — and  loving, 
thinking,  and  acting  according  to  them — are  pre-eminently 
and  distinctively  human.     On  these  two  elements  rests  man's 


100  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

peculiar  responsibility  as  a  man.  They  are  in  him  from  the 
Lord,  or  because  corresponding  elements  are  in  the  Lord, 
They  flow  into  man  in  the  influx  from  the  Lord.  They  are, 
therefore,  as  certain  in  their  existence  and  operation  in  man, 
when  he  is  in  the  order  of  the  Divine  Life,  as  is  such  in- 
flux. They  cannot,  for  an  instant,  be  suspended  or  inter- 
rupted in  their  action,  by  the  Lord  even,  any  more  than  such 
influx  can  be  suspended.  Man  may  lose  his  freedom  by  suf- 
fering himself  to  be  led  by  self,  thus  by  evil  spirits,  but  never 
when  led  by  the  Lord.  "  The  Lord  leads  man  in  freedom,  and, 
so  far  as  man  permits  it,  by  freedom  leads  to  good."  This  is 
the  case  with  all  men  and  angels,  without  exception  and  at  all 
times.  The  Divine  influx  must  fail,  before  it  can  be  possible 
for  man  to  foil  to  receive  all  that  is  necessary  from  the  Lord 
to  make  him  a  perfect  man,  thus  a  free  man.  Swedenborg 
teaches  in  the  following  passages — yet  cited  by  others  for  a  ■ 
diffierent  purpose — how  completely  every  regenerated  man  and 
angel  is  one  with  the  Lord,  as  the  branch  with  the  vine,  and 
is  dependent  upon  Him,  at  the  same  time  that  he  is  most  per- 
fectly and  distinctively  himself,  and  without  the  loss  or  inter- 
rupted action  even  of  a  single  element  of  true  humanity : 

"  All  things,  yea,  the  smallest  things  of  all,  to  the  smallest 
of  the  smallest  things,  are  directed  by  the  Providence  of  the 
Lord,  even  as  to  the  very  steps."  A.  C.  6493.  "  Both  men 
and  spirits  are  compelled  to  think  and  speak  as  the  Lord  per- 
mits or  grants ;  for,  whether  I  was  willing  or  not,  I  was 
obliged  to  think  and  to  speak.  Spirits  are  also  compelled  to 
speak  contrary  to  what  they  think,  nor  is  it  possible  for  them 
to  resist," — and  why? — ''  for,"  it  is  added,  "  they  are  admitted 
into  the  society  of  others,  and  thus  are  carried  away,  as  it 
were,  by  a  stream  of  thinking  and  speaking."  S.  D.  2099. 

Now  mark  this  fact:  this  is  an  experience  mentioned  by 
Swedenborg  not,  by  any  means,  to  show  that  there  was  any- 
thing peculiar  to  him  in  this  respect,  not  to  show  that  his  was 
an  exceptional  case,  much  less  to  show  that  he  was,  in  any 


MAN'S  RELATION   TO    THE  LORD.  101 

sense  or  manner  whatever,  a  passive  instrument  of  the  Lord, — 
as  his  language  sometimes,  to  those  ignorant  of  the  spirit  and 
philosophy  of  his  writings,  seems  to  imply,  and  as  some  seem 
to  think, — but  to  show,  on  the  contrary,  that  neither  men, 
spirits,  nor  angels  think  or  speak  "  of  tliemselves."  So  of  other 
passages  seized  upon  so  eagerly  by  some  to  show  that  Sweden- 
borg's  freedom  was,  in  some  mysterious  way,  so  interfered  with 
by  the  Lord  as  to  make  his  writings  in  no  sense  distinctively 
his  own,  as  is  the  case  with  other  men's  writings,  but  exclu- 
sively and  divinely  the  Lord's  writings. 

"  All  men,  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good;  derive  the  power  to 
think  by  influx  from  the  Lord"  (A.  C.  1707,  2004),  and 
thought  flows  from  the  Love  of  a  man's  life,  and  so  absolutely 
so  that,  if  there  were  no  love,  there  would  be  no  thought.  33. 
But  there  is  interior  thought  and  exterior  thought ;  men  can- 
not think  interiorly  unless  the  natural  be  in  order,  as  with 
the  regenerate.  5168.  A  man  who  is  in  good  is  elevated 
above  sensuals,  or  the  externals  of  the  natural,  to  interior 
thought.  68-44.  Angels  think  from  the  interior.  They  who 
are  in  love  to  the  Lord  think  from  perception.  Perception  is 
not  the  same  as  thought,  but  thought  flows  from  it.  2515, 
2552. 

"  They  who  have  interior  thought  have  also  exterior 
thought."  S.  D.  2900.  This  whole  paragraph,  sometimes 
cited  to  show  that  Swedenborg's  case  was  an  exceptional  exam- 
ple of  the  ^''  double  plane  of  thought"  is  headed  De  cognitionc 
interiore  [concerning  interior  thought],  and  treats  of  what  is 
equally  as  applicable  to  all  men  as  to  Swedenborg.  Sweden- 
borg  in  this  instance,  as  in  a  great  many  others,  simply  de- 
scribes his  own  experience  as  an  illustrative  example.  Yet 
this,  like  other  passages,  has  sometimes  been  cited  as  if  it  was 
Swedenborg's  own  exclusive  experience.  "  In  this  interior 
thought,"  says  one,  "  the  Lord  was  constantly  present  with 
Swedenborg,  and  He  thence  dictated  to  him  what  to  write,  what 
to  speak,  and  what  to  do,"  thus  reiterating,  as  has  been  often 


102  SWEDENBORQ  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

done,  the  gi*eat  fallacious  idea  that  the  Lord,  by  special  motive 
or  eflPort  on  His  own  part,  did  something  for  Swedenborg  that 
He  does  not  do  for  other  men ! 

Here  is  another  passage  which  has  been  quoted  for  the 
same  purpose,  but  unfairly,  because  without  the  qualifying 
context.  Swedenborg  says  (S.  D.  484)  :  "  I  am  gifted  with  a 
double  thought,  one  interior,  the  other  exterior."  The  appear- 
ance is,  without  the  context  and  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
heading  of  this  section,  that  Swedenborg's  case  was  an  excep- 
tional one  in  this  respect.  But  read  the  whole  section,  and 
you  will  see  that  Swedenborg  meant  to  teach  no  such  thing ; 
that  he  speaks  of  his  own  case  here  as  different,  not  from  that 
of  regenerated  men  and  angels,  but  from  that  of  spirits. 

"  They  who  are  in  the  spiritual  affection  of  truth  are  ele- 
vated into  the  light  of  heaven,  even  so  as  to  perceive  the 
illustration.  [A  general  truth.]  It  was  given  me  to  see  this 
illustration  and  to  perceive  distinctly  what  comes  from  the 
Lord,  and  what  from  the  angels."  [Swedenborg's  case  plainly 
an  illustrative  example  of  the  above.]    A.  E.  1183. 

"  Those  to  whom  the  Lord  has  granted  perception  are  able 
to  know  who  in  a  society  and  who  outside  of  it  flow  into  their 
thoughts  and  into  their  speech,  and  indeed  in  a  most  exquisite 
manner,  by  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Lord."  S.  D.  2100. 
This  and  the  following  are  statements  only  of  a  general  prin- 
ciple : 

"  Those  who  are  led  by  the  Lord  have  a  certain  interior 
perception  or  intuition  in  respect  to  those  things  which  are 
to  be  done,  especially  during  the  act  of  doing,"  etc.,  etc.  S.  D. 
892. 

"  As  those  who  are  led  by  the  Lord  perceive  what  they 
ought  to  do,  and  indeed  in  a  manner  not  intelligible  by  others, 
so  also  they  are  persuaded  what  they  ought  to  know,  likewise 
in  a  spiritual  manner,  not  intelligible  to  others."   S.  D.  1405. 

"  During  an  hour's  experience  it  was  shown  me  how  all 
thoughts  are  ruled  by  the  Lord.     There  was  an  influx  like  that 


MAN'S  RELATION    TO    THE    LORD.  103 

of  the  softest  and  almost  imperceptible  stream  whose  vein  does 
not  appear,  yet  it  leads  and  draws.  That  which  flowed  in  from 
the  Lord  led  every  series  of  my  thoughts  in  succession,  and 
although  softly,  yet  strongly,  so  that  I  could  by  no  means  stray 
away  into  other  thoughts,  which  it  was  permitted  me  to  try  to 
do,  but  in  vain."  A.  C.  6174.  His  own  experience,  again, 
only  an  illustrative  example  of  how  "all  thoughts  are  ruled 
by  the  Lord." 

"  Man  is  ruled  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  angels  and  spirits." 
"  The  thoughts  of  a  man  who  is  in  faith  are  not  his ;  when 
they  are  evil,  they  are  of  evil  spirits ;  .  >  .  when  good,  they 
are  the  Lord's  only."  S.  D.  1910.  A  general  statement, 
again. 

"  Only  they  who  have  suffered  themselves  to  be  regenerated 
by  the  Lord,  act  from  freedom  itself,  according  to  reason 
itself"    D.  P.  98. 

All  these  are  general  principles,  and  Swedenborg  gives  a 
great  many  illustrations  of  them  in  his  own  experience.  The 
fact  of  his  being  led  by  the  Lord,  ruled  by  the  Lord,  controlled 
in  his  thoughts  by  the  Lord,  impelled,  instigated,  dictated  io, 
and  the  like,  by  the  Lord,  is  common  to  him  and  all  other  re- 
generated men.  All  things  relating  to  his  own  peculiar  expe- 
rience, though  often  having  the  appearance  of  being  due  to 
something  peculiar  done  for  him  by  the  Lord  not  done  for 
other  men,  yet  were  owing  entirely  to  his  own  peculiar  state 
and  quality  as  a  recipient  vessel ;  just  as  it  is  with  the  garden 
which  differs  from  all  other  gardens.  Is  the  difference  in  this 
case  owing  to  any  difference  in  what  is  received  from  the  sun  ? 
on  the  contrary,  is  it  not  due  entirely  to  the  nature  of  the 
soil,  to  what  is  planted  in  it,  to  its  cultivation,  and  the  like? 

7.  How  all  Mail's  Works  are  the  Lord's. 

All  of  man's  works  are  the  Lord's  works  when  man  is  in 
the  order  of  life,  or  just  in  proportion  as  he  is  in  such  order. 
If  man  were  perfect,  his  works,  his  thoughts,  liis  words,  his 


104  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

writings,  his  actions  or  deeds,  of  whatever  kind,  would  be  per- 
fectly the  Lord's,  and  yet  they  would  be  most  completely  and 
most  distinctively  his  own.  Yet  this  is  a  great  principle 
which,  as  applicable  to  probably  the  noblest,  the  most  perfect 
specimen  of  finite,  terrestrial  humanity  of  which  we  have  any 
knowledge,  is,  by  some  devoted  readers  of  the  Writings,  ap- 
parently ignored.  Let  us  consider  this  subject,  then,  a  little 
further,  and  even  at  the  risk  of  some  repetition,  for  much 
hangs  upon  it.  All  of  God's  works,  and  even  many  of  man's, 
are  full  of  illustrative  exemplifications  of  this  great  principle. 
The  fruit  of  the  pear-tree  is  God's  work,  God's  fruit;  He 
made  it ;  it  was  produced  by  and  from  Him, — entirely  by  and 
from  Him.  The  same  is  true  of  the  fruit  of  the  apple-tree, 
and,  in  fact,  of  every  other  kind  of  fruit.  Why,  then,  are 
these  fruits  so  diflPerent?  is  the  question.  We  answer.  Because 
of  the  difference  of  the  mediums — the  Lord's  instruments, 
the  Lord's  servants — through  which  they  were  produced  or 
evolved ;  because  the  pear-tree  is  different  as  a  recipient  vessel, 
thus  as  an  agent  of  the  Lord,  from  the  apple-tree ;  because 
the  distinctive  organisms  of  the  two  trees  are  different.  Now 
it  is  that  in  the  fruit  which  is  derived  from  the  distinctive  or- 
ganism of  the  tree,  that  makes  it  the  fruit  of  that  tree  rather 
than  of  some  other  tree ;  and  it  is  exactly  this,  nothing 
else,  that  makes  such  fruit  distinctively  that  tree's  work  at 
the  same  time  that  it  is  the  Lord's  work.  And  we  should 
never  say  that  one  tree's  work  was  either  its  own  work  or  the 
Lord's  work  in  any  other  sense  than  that  in  which  we  should 
say  the  same  of  the  fruits  of  all  trees.  Each  and  all  have 
what  is  distinctively  their  own  in  them  as  well  as  wdiat  belongs 
to  the  Lord.  The  injlux  is  the  Lord's,  but  its  peculiar  mode 
of  operation,  which  is  different  in  all  recipient  vessels,  is  dis- 
tinctively their  own  ;  for  this,  in  all  cases,  depends  upon  their 
quality.  The  same  is  true  also  of  all  animal  organisms  and 
their  fruits  or  works ;  there  is  that  which  is  their  own  and 
that  which  is  the  Lord's  in  them  all.    The  same  is  true  also  of 


MAN'S  RELATION   TO    THE  LORD.  105 

men  as  instruments  or  servants  of  other  men,  as  the  tree  or 
animal,  or  man  himself,  is  of  the  Lord.  A  man  builds  a 
house ;  yes,  he  builds  it,  even  though  he  lift  not  up  a  sinj^le 
tool  upon  it;  and  yet  just  as  truly  the  architect,  the  mason, 
the  carpenter,  and  the  joiner  build  it.  Each  and  all  put  them- 
selves into  it  and  leave  their  mark  upon  it,  the  employees  as 
well  as  the  employer;  just  as  is  the  case  with  the  tree  in  re- 
lation to  its  fruit.  Each  says,  This  and  this  and  that  are 
my  work ;  the  master  says,  and  he  who  devises  the  plans 
and  gives  the  directions  says.  It  is  all  my  work.  Such  are 
men,  all  men,  in  their  relation  to  the  Lord.  There  is  that 
which  is  their  own,  and  there  is  that  which  is  the  Lord's,  in 
all  that  they  do.  Swedenborg  was  in  no  instance,  in  nothing 
whatever  that  he  did,  an  exception.  There  never  was,  never 
can  be,  an  exception.  All  that  he  ever  wrote,  all  that  he  ever 
did,  was  the  Lord's  and  was  also  his  own.  Different  from  other 
men,  he  saio  and  acknowledged  what  was  from  the  Lord. 
And  he  did  this,  and  he  could  do  it,  because  he  was  in  a  state 
to  live  and  act  so  completely  from  the  Lord,  which  is  a  state 
of  internal  perception.  His  writings  were  as  much  his  own  at 
the  same  time  that  they  were  the  Lord's,  as  mine  are  mine,  and 
there  was  as  much  of  himself  in  them,  and  even  more,  the  dif- 
ference being,  not  in  what  the  Lord  did, — for  this  was  the  same 
to  him  as  to  me, — but  in  the  difference  between  his  self  and 
my  self,  his  self  being  a  more  pure  and  more  perfect  servant  of 
the  Lord  than  mine  ;  just  as  the  faithful  and  obedient  mechanic 
who  has  no  selfish  fancies  or  plans  or  projects  of  his  own  to 
interfere  with  his  employer's  wishes,  is  a  more  perfect  servant 
of  the  builder  than  the  one  who  "  lifts  up  his  own  tool"  upon 
the  work.  The  great  difference  between  Swedenborg's  writ- 
ings and  those  of  other  men,  is  that  there  is  no  antagonism,  no 
incongruity  or  want  of  unity,  between  what  is  his  own  and 
what  is  the  Lord's  in  them  ;  which  cannot  be  said  of  the  works 
of  unregenerate  men. 

Thus  our  conclusion  is  an  inevitable  one, — that  all  that  the 

6 


106  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

Lord  had  to  do  with  Swedenborg's  writings,  as  with  other 
men's  writings,  was  to  give  him,  precisely  as  to  other  men, 
the  Divine  Influx ;  and  tliat,  therefore,  all  that  is  in  any  sense 
special  or  remarkable  about  them  is  owing  alone  to  recipient 
conditions  furnished  by  his  own  mind.  As  writings,  therefore, 
they  are  wholly  and  purely  and  exclusively  his  own,  not  the 
Lord's  ;  his  own  writings  just  as  much  as  your  writings,  your 
speech,  or  your  works  of  whatever  kind,  are  your  own  ;  just  as 
much  as  the  fruit  borne  by  any  tree  is  its  own,  and  in  a  similar 
sense.  The  fruit  of  a  tree  is  from  the  Lord,  but  not  as  fruit, 
except  indirectly  through  the  organism  of  the  tree ;  it  is  the 
tree's  fruit  in  so  far  as  the  tree  has  put  its  impress  upon  it,  or 
has  put  the  results  of  its  operations  as  a  tree  into  it  and  made 
it  fruit.  Just  so  Swedenborg's  writings  are  his  in  so  far  as  he 
has  put  the  impress  of  his  mind  upon  them,  or  has  put  the 
results  of  the  operations  of  his  mind  into  them,  by  the  pro- 
cesses of  formulating  from  living  truth  verbal  statements  of 
truth,  which  is  purely  a  process  of  finite  faculty.  His  writings 
are  noble  fruit ;  but  they  are  not  divine,  any  more  than  any 
other  fruit,  coming  through  the  modifying  conditions  of  finite 
mediums  or  instruments,  is  divine.  It  was  Divine  Truth  that 
Swedenborg  received;  but  that  was  the  '■^Spirit  of  Truth," 
not  cogitated,  idealized,  and  thus  finited,  verbalized,  truth. 
Divine  truth  ceases  to  be  Divine  after  passing  through  finiting 
conditions,  however  pure  and  perfect  those  conditions  might  be. 


CHAPTER    V. 

niS  CALL  AND  PllEPARATION. 

1.    The  Lord  Appeared  to  Him. 

But  the  Lord  "  appeared"  or  "  manifested  Himself"  to  Swe- 
denborg.  Much  is  made  of  this  fact  to  show  that  the  Lord 
had  given  him  a  "  particuhir  influx,"  "  special  inspiration," 
and  had  him  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner  under  His  direc- 
tion, using  the  words  "  particular,"  "  special,"  and  "  extra- 
ordinary" in  a  sense  akin  to  that  of  miraculous,  as  the  latter 
term  is  commonly  understood.  And  to  one  ignorant  of  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  New  Church,  Swcdenborg's  language  encourages 
such  a  view.  The  appearance,  from  what  Swedenborg  says,  is 
that  the  Lord  is  ^finited  personage  in  the  heavens,  and  that 
He  actually  came  and  presented  Himself  before  Swedenborg, 
especially  from  the  following,  viz. :  '^  The  Lord  manifested  Him- 
self in  person  before  me,  and  sent  me  to  fill  this  oflice,  in  1743." 
Some  readers  of  Swedenborg  seem  to  entertain  this  view  of  the 
Lord  and  of  His  relation  to  Swedenborg.  On  this  view,  mainly, 
seems  to  be  founded  the  extraordinary  claim  for  Swcdenborg's 
writings  as  "  the  Lord's  writings."  We  grant  this  is  Swcden- 
borg's mode  of  speaking ;  the  appearance  sometimes  is  that 
the  Lord  and  Swedenborg  had  personal  interviews,  and  that 
they  really  talked  with  each  other  as  man  with  man.  But  we 
must  not  give  such  expressions  of  Swedenborg  an  interpreta- 
tion inconsistent  with  his  philosophy ;  for,  according  to  his 
philosophy,  the  Lord's  relation  to  Swedenborg  was  precisely 
like  His  relation  to  other  men, — namely,  as  so  often  repeated, 
by  influx,  and  only  by  influx.     There  is  great  danger  of  mis- 

107 


108  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

taking  appearances,  or  what  Swedcnborg  calls  "  real  appear- 
ances," for  realities.  Such  appearances  depend  not  at  all 
upon  anything  different  that  the  Lord  does  at  the  time  of  such 
manifestations  from  what  He  does  at  other  times, — for  He,  in 
what  He  does,  is  as  invariable  and  unchangeable  as  the  sun, — 
but  they  depend  alone  and  entirely  upon  the  operation  of  His 
influx,  and  this  operation  again  depends  exclusively  upon  the 
nature  of  the  recipient  mind  to  whom  the  manifestation  is 
made.  It  is  just  as  it  is  with  the  sun  of  the  material  heavens. 
His  great  examplar  in  the  physical  world.  All  variety  in  the 
sun's  appearances  or  manifestations  of  himself  is  owing  entirely 
to  the  variety  in  the  recipiency  of  his  radiance,  of  his  influx. 
A  regenerated  state  of  mind  is  indispensable  to  the  kind  of 
manifestation  of  the  Lord  made  to  Swedenborg,  and  "  a  con- 
junction of  mediate  and  immediate  influx"  is  one  of  the  essen- 
tial conditions.  And  such  conjunction  "  cannot  be  given  but  in 
good,  for  good  is  the  very  ground."  When  the  conjunction  of 
mediate  and  immediate  influx  takes  place  in  man,  "  then  the 
Lord  appears  as  though  He  were  present,  and  His  presence  is 
also  perceived."  A.  C.  7056.  "  The  Lord  is  present  only  in 
the  celestial  things  of  charity,  and  in  these  He  appears  to  man." 
1442.  The  Lord  appears  to  the  celestial  angels  as  a  sun, 
and  to  the  spiritual  angels  as  a  moon.  He  so  appeared  to 
Swedenborg,  he  being  consciously  associated  with  the  angels 
as  their  equal  (in  certain  respects).  Swedenborg  says  that,  in 
reading  the  Lord's  prayer,  he  always  apperceived  that  there 
was  an  influx  from  the  Lord  into  each  of  the  things  of  the 
prayer,  thus  into  each  of  the  ideas  of  his  thought,  which  were 
from  the  meaning  of  the  things  contained  in  the  prayer.  .  .  . 
It  was  made  manifest  how  infinite  things  were  in  the  expres- 
sions of  the  prayer,  and  that  the  Lord  was  present  in  each. 
6476. 

Thus  Swedenborg's  case — in  regard  to  the  Loi'd's  appearing 
to  him — was  exceptional  only  in  the  sense  in  which  every  man's 
case  is  exceptional ;  what  was  exceptional  was  owing  entirely 


HIS   CALL   AND   PREPARATION.  109 

to  his  exceptional  state  of  recipiency,  just  as  it  is  with  all 
men  and  angels. 

But  a  word  more  in  regard  to  such  aj)2'>earances  or  mmri/es- 
tationa  of  the  Lord.  We  must  always  bear  in  mind  that  they 
are.  what  Swedenborg  calls  them, — namely,  "  appearances,'^  or 
"manifestations," — and  that  they  depend  entirely  upon  the 
states  of  those  who  seem  to  themselves  to  see  what  is  onli/  an 
appearance  or  manifestation,  but  a  real  one.  Swedenborg  says, 
"there  are  real  appearances  and  those  not  real ;"  the  "  real"  in 
them  is  owing  to  that,  in  the  states  of  those  who  see  them,  on 
which  the  appearances  depend  as  real  appeai-ances.  The  real 
cause,  for  example,  of  the  beautiful  things  appearing  outwardly 
to  the  angels  is  in  the  angels  themselves.  The  Lord  apipears 
outside  the  angels  ;  but  is  He  outside  of  them?  "  The  king- 
dom God  is  within  you,"  and  He  is  within,  most  inmostly 
within.  His  kingdom.  He  appears  as  a  sun  or  moon,  or  as  a 
"  black,  dark  thing ;"  but  is  He  such,  with  rounded  and  limited 
outline  ?  He  appears  at  a  middle  altitude  ;  but  is  it  because 
He  is  there  more  than  elsewhere  ?  He  so  appears  "  in  what- 
ever direction  the  angels  turn  themselves .'"  Does  Swedenborg 
mean  to  say  that  the  Lord  ever  actually  stood  before  him  and 
talked  to  him,  told  him  what  to  do,  what  to  write,  etc.  ?  Does 
not  his  philosophy  say  rather  that  this  was  an  appearance 
owing  to  his  state,  owing  to  the  peculiar  operation  of  influx 
from  the  Lord  in  him,  as  affected  or  modified  hy  his  state?  If 
we  take  all  his  statements  as  literally  true, — which  he  never 
meant  we  should  do, — without  regard  to  their  meaning  in  the 
light  of  his  philosophy,  we  shall  be  led  into  the  most  bewilder- 
ing confusion. 

2.  "  Specially   Qualified:' 

All  uses  are  special,  and  therefore  require  that  which  is 
special  in  preparation  for  them.  Swedenborg  was  not  an  ex- 
ception to  the  universal  law  in  this  respect.  His  case  was 
exceptional  only  in  the  degree  of  the  special,  just  as  has  been 


110  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

the  case  with  other  men.  He  had  a  use  to  perform  unlike 
that  of  any  other  man,  and  a  use  which  was  special  in  an  ex- 
traordinary degree.  But  all  that  was  special  in  his  prepara- 
tion for  his  office  or  use  was  owing  to  what  was  special  in  the 
potential  germ  of  his  being,  or  in  his  capacity  for  such  prepa- 
ration. There  was  nothing  added  to  him.  His  preparation 
was  simply  a  development  of  capabilities  already  potentially  in 
him.  In  this  his  case  was  precisely  like  that  of  every  other 
man.  If  a  tree  bears  acorns  instead  of  walnuts,  it  is  not  be- 
cause of  any  diiFerence  in  the  sunshine  that  falls  upon  it,  in 
the  air  which  it  breathes,  in  the  rains  that  give  it  drink,  or  in 
the  soil  from  which  it  grows,  but  because  of  the  undeveloped 
possibilities  of  acorns,  instead  of  walnuts,  in  its  germinal  state. 
If  an  organ  of  the  body  is  an  eye  instead  of  an  ear,  it  is  be- 
cause it  was  first  an  eye,  instead  of  an  ear,  in  possibility.  And 
so  also  if  the  germ  was  the  germ  of  an  oak,  instead  of  the  germ 
of  a  walnut-tree,  in  jyossihilifi/,  it  was  not  because  of  any  dif- 
ference in  its  primal  origin  in  the  great  First  Cause,  but  be- 
cause of  the  conditions  under  which  it  became  a  germ.  An 
acorn  is  an  acorn  instead  of  a  walnut  because  an  oak  furnishes 
different  conditions  from  those  of  a  walnut-tree  for  the  opera- 
tion of  life  from  the  One  only  Source  of  Life.  So  of  the 
fruits  of  all  other  trees  or  plants  ;  so  of  the  eggs,  or  seeds,  or 
germs  of  all  animals  ;  so  also  of  the  finited  beginnings  of  all 
human  beings.  All  cause  of  anything  special  or  extraordinary 
is  in  the  recipient  conditions. 

Here  we  have  exemplified  a  universal  principle,  and,  how- 
ever strong  may  be  appearances  to  the  contrary,  there  are  no 
exceptions  to  it,  none  whatever.  It  is  the  ignoring  of  this 
principle — which  is  as  unchangeable  in  its  operation  as  God 
Himself — that  has  led  to  such  absurd  conclusions  in  regard 
both  to  Swedenborg's  preparation  for  his  mission  and  also  to 
his  performance  of  the  duties  of  his  office.  According  to  the 
representations  of  some,  Swedenborg  seems  to  have  been  a 
private  pupil  of  the  Lord,  who  took  special  pains  with  him, 


HIS  CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  HI 

and  gave  liini  a  different  kind  of  training  from  what  He  ever 
gave  any  other  man, — somewhat  as  a  parent  or  teacher  some- 
times does  a  cliild, — or  just  as  if  the  sun  of  the  natural  heaven 
should  take  under  its  most  particular  charge  some  little  germ 
of  a  tree, — like  that  of  the  California  giant  cedar,  for  example, 
— and  should,  in  addition  to  giving  it  the  fulness  of  its  radi- 
ance, as  to  other  trees,  do  fur  it,  in  some  mysterious  and  extra- 
ordinary way,  and  with  a  certain  end  in  view,  something  dif- 
ferent from  what  it  does  for  other  trees;  or  just  as  if  some- 
thing special  and  extraordinary  were  added  to  the  influx  from 
the  brain  and  heart,  to  prepare  an  eye-  or  ear  or  hand  for 
some  extraordinary  office  or  function.  Such  a  thing  is  impos- 
sible. To  suppose  that  God  can  do  anything  extraordinary, 
or  outside  the  natural  and  uniform  operation  of  influx  from 
Him,  farther  than  what  is  extraordinary  is  due  entirely  to  re- 
cipient state  and  conditions,  is  to  show  a  culpable  ignorance  of 
God  in  His  relation  to  the  universe. 

According  to  our  understanding  of  the  revelations  of  the 
Lord  in  the  Writings,  influx  from  the  Lord  flowed  into  certain 
existing  conditions  to  produce  Swedenborg's  germinal  or  poten- 
tial being,  precisely  as  it  always  has  done  to  produce  the  germ- 
inal or  potential  being  of  all  other  men ;  and  then  it  flowed 
into  his  germ  of  being,  and  ever  after  continued  to  flow  into 
it,  during  all  its  stages  of  development  and  of  preparation  for 
his  mission,  precisely  as  it  flows  into  all  men.  Swedenborg 
became  the  extraordinary  man  he  was,  and  performed  the 
extraordinary  use  he  did,  because,  and  solely  because,  of 
the  extraordinary  conditions  furnished  by  his  nature  for  the 
operation  of  that  influx  from  the  Lord  which  is  the  same  to 
all. 

Thus  there  was  really  nothing  special  in  Swedenborg's  case, 
except  so  far  as  it  was  made  so  by  special  conditions  furnished 
by  his  own  being'^for  the  operations  of  the  Divine  Influx,  just 
as  is  the  case  with  all  men.  There  is  never  any  change  or 
deviation  in  the  Divine  Influx,  except  in  its  operations  a.s  af- 


112  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

fected  by  recipient  conditions.  God  never  changes,  either  in 
what  He  is  or  in  what  lie  does.  Infinite  love  and  infinite  wis- 
dom can  never  change.  Is  it  because  the  sunbeam  changes, 
or  because  of  a  special  form  or  mode  of  action  of  the  sun,  that 
the  rose  is  red  and  the  lily  white  ?  Is  it  because  of  change 
in  the  stream,  or  in  the  channel,  that  the  water  now  calmly 
moves,  and  as  if  it  did  not  move,  and  now  foams  and  boils, 
and  now  dashes  and  leaps  and  carries  destruction  before  it? 
There  is  nothing  special,  in  any  case,  in  what  flows  in  from  the 
Lord ;  all  that  is  special,  in  all  cases,  is  in  the  state  of  the  re- 
cipient. If  there  is  ever  a  special  action  of  Providence,  it  is 
always  because  of  special  recipient  conditions  which  cause  the 
deviation  of  such  action.  Any  special  action  of  life  in  the 
body  is  not  in  the  life,  but  in  the  body.  Swedenborg  was  pre- 
pared for  his  mission,  and  every  other  man  for  his  mission,  by 
the  same  Divine  action,  so  far  as  God  was  concerned.  It  was 
only  the  same  Influx  into  diff'ercnt  recipient  conditions.  The 
same  Divine  Influx  into  men  of  diiferent  constitutional  tastes, 
genius,  and  capacities  results  in  qualifications  for  difi"erent  uses 
in  life,  just  as  the  same  influx  from  heart  and  brain  into  dif- 
ferent germinal  forms  results  in  the  development  of  difi"erent 
organs  and  members  and  offices  of  the  body.  It  sometimes 
seems  as  if  God  purposely  caused  the  Divine  Influx  to  deviate 
from  its  normal  action  ;  but  this  is  only  an  appearance.  When 
any  part  of  the  body  is  wounded,  it  seems  as  if  heart  and 
brain  went  immediately  to  work,  by  a  special  action  of  their  own 
organism,  to  repair  the  injury ;  but  this  is  only  an  appearance, 
for  nothing  diff'ercnt,  in  any  sense,  flows  out  from  the  heart 
and  brain.  True,  there  is  special  action,  remedial  action,  but 
caused  by  the  condition  of  the  organism,  for  only  the  same 
influx  enters  it  that  entered  it  before  the  injury,  or  that  enters 
healthy  organism. 

There  is  a  grand  and  beautiful  principle  here,  if  we  can  see 
it,  illustrative  of  the  operation  of  the  Divine  Influx  in  wicked 
men,   or  in  diseased  or  disordered   spiritual   organism.     The 


HIS  CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  113 

same  influx,  in  all  cases  and  always,  carries  with  it,  carries  in 
it,  inlierent  in  its  own  nature,  every  remedial  resource  ;  so  that 
it  instantly  and  spontaneously  becomes  remedial  on  entering 
disordered  organism.  It  is  the  very  nature  of  the  disorder  to 
make  the  action  of  the  influx  remedial,  thus  special,  and  ap- 
parently so  by  special  design  or  purpose.  How  can  it  be  other- 
wise when  we  understand  the  real  nature  of  the  influx, — that 
every  attribute  is  intensely  present  in  every  instant's  action  of 
the  influx ;  that  the  influx  carries  all  its  resources  with  it  and 
in  it ;  that  it  keeps  and  needs  keep  nothing  in  reserve.  And 
how  comforting  the  fact  that  our  God, — our  Life  and  our  Light, 
— and  with  every  attribute  in  intensest  operation,  is  always  in  us, 
and  instantly  and  spontaneously  applying  the  remedy,  and  the 
divinely  best  remedy,  for  every  disordered  condition, — that  it  is, 
indeed,  impossible  for  Him  to  fail  to  do  this ;  thus,  that,  wherever 
we  are,  in  heaven  or  in  hell,  and  whatever  we  are,  angel  or  devil, 
He  is  unchangeably  the  same,  the  same  in  what  He  is  and  in 
what  He  docs ;  and  that  it  is  impossible  for  what  He  does,  as 
varied  in  its  action  by  our  state,  to  be  otherwise  than  what  is 
best  for  us, — that  such  varied  action  is,  in  fact,  most  specially 
adapted  to  our  condition.  And  what  follows  ?  And  this  may 
make  my  meaning  plainer,  if  there  is,  as  yet,  any  obscurity. 
The  action,  for  example,  of  the  Divine  Influx,  as  varied  by  an- 
gelic state  or  conditions,  would  be  most  terrible  torture,  if  not 
actual  destruction,  to  infernal  organism.  What  would  be  the 
eff'ect  of  influx  from  heart  and  brain,  as  varied  in  its  action  by 
healthy  conditions,  upon  diseased  organism  ?  Is  not  this,  then, 
what  is  meant  by  "  special  Providence"  :  that  it  is  Providence, 
or  the  Divine  Influx,  as  varied  in  its  action  by  special  states 
or  conditions,  and  always  with  Infinite  Love  and  Infinite  Wis- 
dom, and  in  its  results,  for  that  which,  in  the  conditions  and 
under  the  circumstances,  is  best? 

It  seems  to  me  to  be  a  want  of  recognition  of  this  grand  and 
unchangeable  principle  of  the  Divine  Nature, — namely,  that 
God,  so  far  as  His  own  inherent  action  is  concerned,  is  the 

6* 


114  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

same,  in  all  conditions  and  under  all  circumstances, — that  has 
led  men  to  set  up  such  strange  and  irrational  claims  in  regard 
to  Swedenborg  and  his  writings ;  and  that  has  led  to  such  a 
misunderstanding  of  what  Swedenborg  says  about  himself,  as 
to  make  his  own  experience  contradict  his  own  philosophy ;  as 
to  make  the  Lord,  for  example,  do  something  for  him,  with  a 
view  to  his  preparation  for  his  mission,  that  He  does  not  do 
for  other  men.  This,  so  far,  finites  and  degrades  God  down  to 
the  level  of  a  mechanic  or  tutor  acting  from  expediency. 
And  the  whole  spirit  and  philosophy  of  the  Writings  contra- 
dict any  and  every  such  view  of  God's  action  or  relation  to 
man. 

3.  His  Call. 

Swedenborg  was  "  called  by  the  Lord,"  we  admit,  "  to  a 
holy  office."  But  how  was  he  called  ?  Precisely  as  other 
men,  all  men,  are  called.  What  did  the  call  consist  in?  It 
consisted,  with  him,  as  with  other  men,  in  a  constitutional 
"  hent'^  or  inclination  of  his  mind  to  certain  pursuits ;  it  was 
an  inborn,  natural  taste  for  certain  studies  and  certain  uses  in 
life.  All  men  are  called  by  the  Lord,  each  to  some  specific 
use,  profession,  or  business,  and  one  no  more  than  another. 
And  there  is  no  difference  in  the  calls,  none  whatever,  so  far 
as  the  Lord's  agency  in  them  is  concerned :  He  is  "  no  re- 
specter of  persons,"  or  of  professions  or  businesses.  It  is  the 
peculiar  form,  quality,  or  disposition  of  the  mind  itself  as  a 
recipient  of  the  Divine  Influx,  that  makes  the  call.  Some 
have  a  more  marked  or  decided  bent,  thus  a  more  decided, 
more  appreciable,  or  louder  call,  than  others.  Some  manifest 
this  bent  earlier  in  life  than  others.  Mozart  had  a  very  early 
call  to  be  a  great  musical  composer ;  Franklin,  to  be  a  philoso- 
pher ;  Colburn,  to  be  a  mathematician ;  Napoleon,  to  be  a  war- 
rior. To  some  who  are  peculiarly  constituted  and  sensitive  to 
spiritistic  influences  the  call  may  seem  to  come  through  such 
influences,  in  audible  tones  even.  But  this  is  owing  entirely 
to  the  peculiar  character  of  the  subject.     The  Lord  has  no 


HIS  CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  115 

more  to  do,  really,  with  sucli  calls  than  with  all  others.  Swe- 
denborg  manifested  a  love  for  certain  intellectual  pursuits  early 
in  life ;  but  these  were  not  limited  to  one  channel,  as  mathe- 
matics alone,  natural  history  alone,  or  ethics  alone.  His  mind 
indicated  great  breadth  and  very  great  versatility,  even  in  his 
childhood.  There  was  a  clear  prophecy  of  the  man  in  the 
child.  His  was  a  very  remarkable  mind, — it  was  sui  generis. 
None  like  it  had  ever  existed.  Such  breadth,  such  depth, 
such  perspicacity, — there  was  a  significance  that  none  could 
interpret,  a  future  that  none  could  read ;  for  it  was  to  be 
most  unlike  the  developed  future  of  any  previously  existing 
youth,  that  of  Shakspeare,  for  example,  or  Milton,  or  Bacon, 
or  Humboldt.  The  world  was  not  in  a  state  to  foresee  or 
expect  anything  like  such  a  future.  It  was  to  be  an  entirely 
new  problem,  and  one  upon  which,  even  now,  after  that 
future  has  come  and  gone,  men — "great  men,"  "wise  men" 
— look  with  amazement  and  bewilderment ;  they  are  not  even 
now  prepared  for  even  the  announcement  of  the  problem  of 
the  revelation  made  to  human  thought  by  Swedenborg's  life 
and  works,  and  much  less  arc  they  prepared  for  the  solution 
of  the  problem,  for  the  understanding  of  the  vast  significance 
of  his  life  and  mission. 

4.  Ills  Preparation. 

Such  was  Swedenborg's  call :  it  was  as  the  acorn's  call  to 
become  an  oak,  or  the  egg's  call  to  become  a  bird,  which 
are  equally  by  the  Lord.  Everything  in  his  primal  being- 
pointed  to  his  mission,  just  as  much  as  everything  in  the  seed 
points  to  the  future  tree,  or  everything  in  the  egg  to  the  future 
bird.  But  this  was  no  more  true  of  him  than  of  all  men. 
What  was  remarkable  and  exceptional  in  his  ease  was  his  de- 
velopment AwA  p>reparation  for  his  work.  And  in  what  was  he 
different  from  other  men  in  this  respect  ?  He  was  different  in 
this, — namely,  in  that  he  followed,  and  sought  most  diligently  to 
follow,  the  leadings  of  Providence  ;  in  that  he  listened  so  heed- 


116  SWEDENBORO   AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

fully  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  in  the  dictates  of  conscience ; 
in  that  he  so  unceasingly  studied  and  meditated  upon  the 
Word,  and  did  so  for  the  sake  of  learning  the  true  way  of 
life ;  and  thus  in  that  he  suffered  himself  to  be  so  completely 
led  and  governed  by  the  Lord,  but  by  the  Lord,  it  should 
always  be  remembered,  as  that  influx  of  Divine  Truth  which 
filled,  and  whose  very  nature  it  was  to  give  free,  rational,  and 
thus  true,  responsible  manhood  to,  every  faculty  of  his  being. 
He  was,  indeed,  in  this  sense,  the  Lord's  most  faithful  and 
obedient  pupil  or  disciple  during  his  whole  course  of  prepa- 
ration. He  was,  every  moment  of  his  pupilage  or  preparation 
for  his  use,  most  completely  himself,  and  in  the  highest  sense 
of  the  word  his  own  master ;  but  only  so  ftir  as,  at  the  same 
time,  he  was  wholly  and  completely  the  Lord's,  and  followed 
undeviatingly  His  leadings.  For  so  far,  and  only  so  far,  as  one 
is  the  Lord's  he  is  his  own  ;  and  just  so  far.  and  only  so  far, 
as  he  serves  the  Lord  does  he,  in  the  highest  and  best  and 
truest  sense  of  the  word,  serve  himself;  for  by  such  service, 
and  only  by  such  service,  he  makes  all  that  the  Lord  gives  him 
his  own,  but  his  own  as  a  steward, — makes  himself,  indeed,  one 
with  the  Lord,  as  the  branch  is  one  with  the  vine.  To  serve 
the  Lord  is  not  to  worship  Him,  not  idolatrously  to  adore  and 
praise  Him,  as  most  people  suppose.  Worship  and  praise  are 
incidental,  are  simply  the  result  of  a  spontaneous  overflow  of 
love  and  thanksgiving,  are  only  the  expression  of  a  heart 
made  warm  and  full  by  real,  loving  service.  We  serve  the 
Lord  bi/  serving  others, — that  is,  by  being  His  instruments  in 
doing  the  work  which  He  is  in  the  constant  effort  to  do.  The 
case  is  as  it  is  with  the  service  of  men :  we  do  not  serve  men 
by  worshipping  and  praising  them,  but  by  aiding  them  in  their 
work ;  and  just  as  the  branch  serves  the  vine  by  bearing  its 
fruit,  or  as  any  organ  or  member  of  the  body  serves  the  brain 
by  obeying  its  impulses.  Such  was  Swedenborg's  service  of 
the  Lord  all  along  the  pathway  of  his  preparation  for  his 
final  work, — for  his  educatioji  fof  that  work  consisted  mainly 


HIS   CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  117 

in  performing  uses  for  the  sake  of  his  fellow-inen, — and  he  was, 
all  along,  day  by  day,  seeking  knowledge  for  the  sake  of  such 
uses ;  day  by  day  he  consulted  the  Lord,  by  reading  and  med- 
itating upon  the  Word,  to  learn  what  He  would  have  him  do, 
to  find  out  how  he  could  best  serve  Him.  And  the  Lord  in- 
structed him  by  giving  him  light,  thus  by  giving  him  intuitive 
perception  of  what  He  would  have  him  do.  In  this  was  the 
secret  of  Swedenborg's  great  power :  it  was  the  power  of  the 
Lord  in  him.  He  earnestly  desired  to  be  led  by  the  Lord, — 
by  the  Lord  as  the  very  Spirit  of  Truth, — and  this  enabled  the 
Lord,  by  His  influx  as  such  Spirit  of  Truth,  to  lead  him  and 
guide  him  and  give  him  the  required  strength.  It  was  in  this 
that  he  differed  so  widely  from  other  men  ;  it  was  not  in  what 
the  Lord  sought  to  do  for  him,  but  in  what  his  state  enabled 
the  Lord  to  do  for  him.  Yet  some  men  are — mistakenly,  we 
think — constantly  inculcating  the  idea  that  the  Lord  did  some- 
thing for  Swedenborg,  and  sought  to  do  something  for  him  that 
He  does  not  do,  and  does  not  seek  to  do,  for  other  men,  and 
because  of  Swedenborg's  intended  peculiar  mission,  just  as  if 
all  the  difference  was  in  what  the  Lord  did,  and  not  in  what 
Swedenborg  was,  as  differing  from  other  men.  Thus  it  is 
claimed  that  the  Lord,  in  a  peculiar,  exceptional  way,  directed 
Swedenborg,  both  by  mediate  and  by  immediate  influx,  in  re- 
gard to  everything  pertaining  to  his  special  mission,  and  the 
following  has  been  quoted  in  proof: 

"  From  my  past  life,  I  was  able  to  see  that  everything  therein 
was  governed  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  those  things  that  had 
been  produced  or  done  by  me."     S.  D.  3177. 

Now  this  applies  no  more  to  Swedenborg  than  to  every  hu- 
man being.  The  whole  paragraph  whence  this  sentence  is 
taken  is  under  the  caption,  "  That  the  Lord  rules  the  human 
race  in  the  very  smallest  particulars."  And  what  Swedenborg 
says  of  his  own  case  he  mentions  as  an  illustration  of  this 
fact ;  and,  what  is  remarkable,  considering  the  use  that  has 
been  made  of  this  citation,  Swedenborg  speaks  in  the  same 


118  SWEDEXBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

short  paragrapli  of  another,  a  very  wicked  man,  who  was  iu 
like  manner  governed  by  the  Lord  "  in  the  most  singular 
things !" 

The  following  passage,  which  has  been  cited  also  in  immediate 
connection  with  the  above,  and  therefore  for  the  same  purpose, 
is  very  interesting  as  teaching  the  same  general  truth  of  the  par- 
ticularity of  the  Lord's  providence  in  relation  to  men, — to  all 
men, — and  not  to  Swedenborg  alone,  or  as  an  exceptional  case. 
Adv.  I.  vol.  iii.  839 : 

"  What  the  acts  of  my  life  involved  I  could  not  distinguish 
at  the  time  when  they  happened,  but,  by  the  Divine  mercy 
of  God-Messiah,  I  was  informed  with  regard  to  some,  and 
even  with  respect  to  man}^  particulars.  From  these  I  was 
at  last  able  to  see  that  the  Divine  Providence  had  governed 
the  acts  of  my  life  uninterruptedly  from  my  very  youth, 
and  directed  them  in  such  a  manner  that,  by  means  of  the 
knowledge  of  natural  things,  I  was  enabled  to  reach  a  state  of 
intelligence,  and  thus,  by  the  Divine  mercy  of  God-Messiah, 
to  serve  as  an  instrument  for  opening  those  things  which 
are  hidden  interiorly  in  the  Word  of  God-Messiah.  Those 
things,  therefore,  are  now  made  manifest  which  hitherto  were 
not  manifest." 

Yes,  we  all  acknowledge  it.  Providence  "  governed"  and 
"  directed"  Swedenborg  in  regard  to  all  the  acts  of  his  life, 
even  from  his  "  very  youth"  ;  but  we  deny  that  Swedenborg 
was  in  any  sense  or  manner  exceptional  in  this,  and  he  nowhere 
claims  to  have  been  exceptional  as  regards  icluit  the  Lord  did 
for  him.  The  Lord  simply  flowed  into  him  as  he  was,  precisely 
as  He  flows  into  all  other  men ;  and  the  operation  of  such  in- 
flux in  its  government  and  direction  was,  in  Swedenborg's  case, 
as  in  all  other  cases,  qualified  or  made  exceptional  by  his  pe- 
culiar state  of  recipiency.  But  the  above  passage  is  interest- 
ing and  instructive  as  showing  how  uninterruptedly  and  how 
thoroughly  every  human  being  is  under  the  Lord's  Providence. 
And  the  end  of  such  Providence  is — equally  with  all,  as  with 


HIS  CALL   AND  PREPARATION.  119 

Swedenborg — their  best  possible  qualification  for  fulfilling  their 
mission ;  for  every  human  being  has  a  mission  as  much  as  Swe- 
denborg had. 

Swedenborg  says  that  he  was  prepared  for  his  office  from 
his  infancy.  How  full  of  meaning !  What  was  his  office  ? 
He  had,  we  may  say,  a  succession  of  offices,  but  all  looking  to 
the  one  great  office  of  explaining  the  Bible.  This  was  a  reve- 
lation from  God  in  speech.  What  qualifications  were  required 
for  such  explanation  ?  I  answer :  a  perception  of  the  Word  in 
its  real  nature  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  and  a  mind  well  stored 
with  a  knowledge  of  the  revelation  of  the  same  Word  in 
nature.  His  mind  was  prepared  for  such  perception  in  the 
one  only  way  by  which  it  could  be  prepared, — namely,  by  re- 
generation, as  before  shown.  This  opened  his  mind  to  the 
light  of  heaven,  which  is  nothing  else  than  the  light  of  the 
Word  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  which  is  the  light  of  its  spiritual 
sense.  He  says  that  "  the  Lord  opened  the  interiors  of  his 
spirit."  Of  course  the  Lord  did  it,  but  the  Lord  as  the  Word 
did  it.  Neither  Swedenborg  nor  any  other  man  ever  knew 
any  other  Lord  than  the  Lord  as  the  Word.  But  the  Lord 
opened  the  interiors  of  Swedenborg's  spirit  in  no  other  sense 
and  in  no  other  way  than  that  in  which  He  opens  the  interiors 
of  every  man's  spirit,  when  he  comes  into  a  state  to  have  them 
thus  opened, — that  is,  by  his  regeneration.  There  was  no  me- 
chanical or  artificial  process  of  opening ;  there  was  no  special 
operation  on  the  part  of  the  Divine,  except  so  far  as  normal 
operation  was  made  special  by  recipient  conditions.  The  sun 
opens  the  interiors — if  I  may  so  speak,  for  the  sake  of  illustra- 
tion— of  the  flower-bud,  but  of  all  flower-buds  alike,  so  far  as 
the  sun  is  concerned ;  but  it  does  this  only  after  it  has,  little 
by  little,  brought  the  bud  into  a  condition  to  be  opened,  when 
it,  as  it  were,  spontaneously  opens  as  the  sunbeams  fall  upon 
it.  The  sun  does  not  artificially  force  the  bud  open,  as  it  were, 
by  a  certain  process  of  manipulation,  as  the  child  would  do, 
and  as  it  would  seem  as  if  the  Lord  did,  according  to  the 


120  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

views  of  some,  when  He  opened  the  interiors  of  Swedenborg's 
spirit.  The  Lord  really  did  nothing  for  Swedenborg  in  this 
case  that  He  does  not  equally  for  all,  and  just  as  He  does  for 
all.  The  only  thing  exceptional  was  in  Swedenborg's  state  as 
to  recipiency. 

But  when  one  is  regenerated  up  into  a  state  of  spiritual 
perception,  his  degree  or  kind  or  extent  of  illustration,  when 
he  reads  the  Word,  depends  upon  his  intellectual  development, 
and  also  upon  his  stores  of  knowledge  of  the  Word  as  revealed 
in  Nature.  AVhen  a  man's  interiors  are  open  he  has  illustra- 
tion, and  thus  revelation  from  perception,  when  he  reads  the 
Word,  but  in  measure,  or  extent  and  variety,  according  to  the 
light  which  he  is  capable  of  having  by  means  of  the  knowl- 
edges belonging  to  him.  A.  C.  10,400.  That  is  to  say,  the 
intellectually  learned  man,  if  in  a  state  of  perception,  has, 
while  reading  the  Word,  larger  or  intenser  illustrations,  so  to 
speak,  than  the  unlearned  man.  It  was  in  this  respect  that 
Swedenborg  was  so  much  in  advance  of  other  men  who  may 
have  been  in  a  similar  state  of  perception  or  illustration.  His 
learning  was  vast,  though,  perhaps,  not  greater  than  that  of 
some  others.  His  excellence — excellence  as  regards  the  use 
he  had  to  perform — was  not  so  much  in  the  extent  as  in  the 
kind  of  his  knowledge.  His  knowledge  was  peculiarly  that  of 
the  Word,  of  the  Word  in  its  revelations  of  itself  in  Sacred 
Scripture,  and  also  in  its  revelations  of  itself  in  nature.  His 
great  study  through  life  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  as  re- 
vealed in  Nature  as  well  as  in  Sacred  Scripture.  This  was  a 
most  important  part  of  his  "  preparation  by  the  Lord"  for  his 
great  mission.  In  this  he  faithfully  followed  the  leadings  of 
Providence ;  and  this  is  the  reason  why  he  was  so  successful  in 
it.  Swedenborg  was  prepared  for  his  office,  like  all  men  each 
for  his  own  work,  on  the  same  principle  that  the  heart  or  any 
other  organ  of  the  body  is  prepared  for  its  function,  which  is 
by  influx  into  its  own  peculiar  form  and  conditions,  and  by  its 
own  action.     That  is  to  say,  the  diiference  is  not  in  what  the 


HIS  CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  121 

Lord  docs,  is  not  in  the  influx,  but  is  in  recipient  state  and 
conditions. 

5.   Not  a  Prodigi/. 

Swedenborg  was  no  prodigy,  as  some  seem  to  teach,  and  to 
teach  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  the  Lord  at  length 
made  something  out  of  him,  by  a  particular  and  exceptional 
process  of  manipulation,  as  it  were,  by  whom,  as  a  sort  of 
intensely  active,  yet  mysteriously  passive,  instrument.  He  could 
accomplish  a  certain  object.  In  proof  of  which  they  cite  the 
following : 

"  I  know,  from  my  own  case,  that  in  .the  parts  of  my  office 
I  am  instructed  by  experience  only,  without  the  memory  of 
particulars."  S.  D.  888. 

"  By  which  Swedenborg  means,"  it  is  said,  "  that  in  every- 
thing that  concerns  his  office — ?*.e.,  '  his  teaching  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  New  Church  by  the  Word  from  the  Lord' — he 
was  not  directed  by  his  own  thought  on  the  things  contained 
in  his  natural  memory,  which  in  the  '  Spiritual  Diary'  he 
calls  the  '  memory  of  particulars,'  but  was  governed  by  the 
Lord  by  an  influx  into  his  will,  of  which  he  remained  uncon- 
scious until  it  (manifested  itself  by  '  experience,'  or  by  the  acts 
of  his  life.  And  by  this  influx,"  it  is  added,  "  the  Lord  gov- 
erned the  particulars  of  Swedenborg's  thought,  and  also  the 
particular  influx  which  he  received  from  spirits." 

Now  read  the  whole  paragraph  from  which  the  above  cita- 
tion from  the  "  Spiritual  Diary"  was  made.  Here  it  is  (Swe- 
denborg had  been  speaking  of  the  "  interior  memory'''^  : 

"  In  regard  to  this  interior  memory,  and  the  manner  in 
which  knowledges  are  insinuated  into  spirits,  it  cannot  be 
otherwise  known  than  from  those  things  which  occur  in  the 
life  of  the  body,  as  that  a  man  from  infancy  learns  to  speak, 
learns  to  think,  and  this  more  and  more,  still  without  knowing 
in  what  manner  these  things  are  insinuated,  still  less  how  the 
faculties  of  understanding,  thinking,  judging,  and  concluding 
have  been  insinuated.     Just  as  when  an  adult  is  learning;  Ian- 


122  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

guages,  so  I  have  known,  from  my  own  case,  that  in  the  parts 
of  my  office  I  have  in  like  manner  been  instructed  by  expe- 
rience only,  without  the  memory  of  particulars."  And  here 
Swedenborg  adds,  parenthetically  ("  these  things  are  said  solely 
that  it  may  he  understood  what  is  the  nature  of  that  •memory^ 
and  not  that  they  'may  he  inserted  concerning  myself'''). 

It  is  impossible  to  see  any  indication  whatever  in  this  para- 
graph, or  in  any  dissevered  part  of  it  even,  that  the  Lord's 
treatment  of  Swedenborg  was  in  any  sense  or  manner  excep- 
tional or  peculiar.  The  lesson  of  the  paragraph  is  a  general 
one,  and  no  more  applies  to  Swedenborg  than  to  all  men.  If 
he  "  was  governed  by  the  Lord  by  an  influx  into  his  will,  of 
which  he  remained  unconscious  until  it  manifested  itself  by 
'  experience,'  or  by  the  acts  of  his  life,"  so  are  all  men  and 
angels  so  governed  ;  if  this  made,  so  far,  a  tool  of  Swedenborg, 
— and  this  seems  to  be  the  conclusion  of  some, — it  does  so  of 
all  men  and  angels.  So,  also,  if  Swedenborg  learned  by  his 
own  experience  "  that  the  thoughts  of  a  man  who  is  in  faith 
are  not  his,  that  when  evil  they  are  of  evil  spirits,  .  .  .  that 
when  good  they  are  the  Lord's  only,"  he  learned  it,  and  he 
teaches  it,  as  a  general  iirincijile,  and  as  equally  applicable 
to  all. 

6.  A  Student  of  the  Natural  Sciences. 

Swedenborg  was  most  completely  his  own  man,  a  perfectly 
free,  responsible,  moral  agent,  during  his  whole  course  of  prep- 
aration for  his  work,  though  "  led,"  "  governed,"  "  directed" 
by  the  Lord,  just  as  other  men  are,  so  far  as  they  permit  them- 
selves to  be.  It  was  his  tastes  that  led  him  in  pursuit  of  the 
peculiar  kinds  of  knowledge  needed  to  fit  him  for  his  mission, 
and  it  was  his  capacity  and  diligence  that  made  him  proficient 
in  the  acquisition  of  such  knowledge.  The  Lord  flowed  into 
and  acted  through  his  tastes  and  capacities.  Indeed,  it  was 
his  peculiar  combination  of  tastes  and  capacities  and  qualities 
of  heart  and  of  intellect  that  virtually  elected  him  to  his  pecu- 


HIS   CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  123 

liar  office  or  use,  or  rather  it  was  the  Divine  influx,  acting 
through  that  combination,  that  so  elected  him.  A'boy's  tastes, 
as  his  mind  opens,  indicate,  and  frequently  with  unerring  cer- 
tainty, what  is  to  be  his  future  ;  they  indicate  whether,  if  he 
can  follow  his  tastes  or  his  hent,  he  is  going  to  be  an  artist,  a 
naturalist,  a  mechanic,  or  something  else.  It  was  so  with 
Swedenborg,  though  there  was  vastly  more  ia  his  futixre  than 
any  interpretation  of  his  beginnings  could  possibly  indicate  to 
men,  as  men  then  were.  We  know  not  how  to  prophesy  of 
the  developed  tree  of  an  unknown  germ  or  shoot.  Sweden- 
borg was  an  extraordinary  child,  and  this  is  why  he  became 
an  extraordinary  man, — the  man  was  simply  the  well-developed 
child. 

Swedenborg  says,  "  I  was  first  introduced  by  the  Lord  into 
the  natural  sciences,  and  thus  prepared."  How  introduced? 
Why,  just  as  every  man  fond  of  the  natural  sciences  is  intro- 
duced to  them, — namely,  by  following  his  tastes,  or  the  indica- 
tions of  influx  from  the  Lord  operating  in  his  tastes.  Here 
was  indicated  a  future  which  no  one,  not  even  himself,  could 
foresee.  A  knowledge  of  the  natural  sciences — that  is,  of  God 
in  nature — was  an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  a  knowledge  of 
"  correspondences,^'  of  which  the  whole  Bible  is  composed ;  yet 
he  had  no  idea  or  intimation  of  this, — it  was  not  necessary  for 
him  to  have.  He  loved  the  pursuit  and  saw  a  use  in  it,  and 
this  was  enough  for  him  at  the  time.  His  works  on  science 
are  wonderful  stores  of  knowledge,  and  such  as  the  works  of 
no  other  author  contain,  ancient  or  modern.  They  are  too 
profound,  go  too  far  into  the  secrets  of  nature,  for  even  modern 
scientists  to  understand.  It  was  not  until  he  had  foretoken- 
ings  of  his  final  mission  that  he  even  grasped  their  full  sig- 
nificance. There  was  a  meaning  in  his  intellectual  stores  which 
even  he  did  not  see  while  he  was  acquiring  them.  He  was  not 
exceptional  in  this ;  this  is  often  the  case  with  men  of  great 
missions.  Thus  Swedenborg  says,  expressing  a  general  prin- 
ciple :  "  What  the  acts  of  my  life  involved  I  could  not  dis- 


124         SWEDENBORO   AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

tinguisli  at  the  time  when  they  happened ;  .  .  .  ,  but  those 
things  are  now  made  manifest  which  hitherto  were  not  mani- 
fest." Cannot  some  of  the  oldest  of  us  bear  some  testimony 
to  this  from  our  own  experience?  Can  we  not  "see,  with 
him,  that  the  Divine  Providence  has  governed  the  acts  of  our 
lives  uninterruptedly  from  our  very  youth,"  and  that  the  Lord 
has  had  a  specific  end  in  view  in  our  case,  as  really  in  his 
case  ?  He  could  look  back  and  read  the  lessons  of  Providence 
in  his  experiences  after  they  were  past,  though  he  could  not 
see  their  meaning  at  the  time.  We  can  do  the  same,  and  it 
is  useful  to  do  so. 

7.  Swedenborg  as  a  Scientist. 

Swedenborg  had  published  his  works  on  a  wide  range  of 
scientific  and  philosophical  subjects,  among  which  are  his 
treatises  on  metallurgy,  "  The  Principia,"  "  The  Outlines  of 
the  Infinite,"  and  "  The  Final  Cause  of  Creation,"  "  Principles 
of  Chemistry,"  etc.  He  had,  indeed,  gone  down  into  the 
depths  and  ascended  into  the  heights  on  all  the  subjects  that 
occupied  his  thoughts  and  pen,  and,  what  is  more,  he  turned 
them  to  pracf'tcrt?  tise.  In  addition  to  being  the  profoundest 
and  most  versatile  scientist  and  philosopher  of  his  or  any  other 
age  of  the  world,  he  was,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  a 
practical  man.  Use  was  the  great  end  and  law  of  his  life.  It 
was  because  of  this  trait  in  his  character,  and  because  of  his 
wonderful  intelligence  and  practical  energy,  that  he  was  a  great 
favorite  of  his  king,  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  who  ennobled 
him,  and  who  made  practical  use  of  him  in  the  service  of  his 
country.  He  had  ranged  over — rather  had  revelled  in  the 
depths  of — a  vast  field  of  thought  and  investigation,  from  the 
lowest  ultimates  up  to  the  beginning  of  things.  His  works  on 
metallurgy  and  the  like  show  what  he  had  done  on  the  former, 
as  his  "Principia"  and  like  works  on  the  latter.  All  these 
works  show  what  a  world  of  thought  was  evolved  from  his  brain. 
He  never  went  back,  but  was  always  going  forward  to  greater 


HIS  CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  125 

liciglits,  to  the  investigation  of  profounder  piinciples.  It 
was  not  necessary  for  him  always  to  tarry  in  one  field.  It  was 
the  very  nature  of  his  experience  to  be  constantly  lifting  him 
up,  and  to  unexplored  heights.  This  was  his  genius,  the 
peculiar  character  of  his  mind,  and  because  he  was  a  regener- 
ating man.  Thus  all  nature  had  successively  opened  her 
treasures  of  knowledge  to  him.  He  was  already  standing  on 
the  Alps  of  human  learning,  and  with  his  vision  still  reaching 
upward.  Not  in  one  department  alone,  but  in  most, — in 
science,  in  philosophy,  in  ethics,  in  devotion  to  his  Maker,  in 
the  service  of  his  country,  and  as  a  loving  and  useful  citizen — 
he  had  risen  high  above  his  fellow-men.  Take  him  all  in  all, 
he  was  such  a  man  as  the  world  had  never  seen.  The  angels 
were  said  to  have  spoken  through  his  mouth  while  he  lay  in 
the  cradle  ;  his  manhood  had,  seemingly,  already  become  the 
fulfilment  of  his  childhood. 

Truth  for  TrnfJis  Sake. 

But  Swedenborg  was  no  prodigy.  He  had  not  been  lifted 
up  to  that  high  vantage-ground,  nor  let  down  from  heaven,  as 
"  some  bird  of  heavenly  plumage  fair,"  but  had  "  toi/ed  vj)," 
had  "  made  himself,"  just  like  other  men.  The  Lord  had 
led  him,  and  had  led  him  because  he  could  be  led,  because  he 
submitted  to  the  Divine  dictates  or  promptings ;  but  He  had 
led  him  precisely  as  He  leads  all  men,  so  far  as  they  permit 
themselves  to  be  led.  He  was  already  the  Lord's  servant,  just 
as  all  good  men  are,  but  each  according  to  his  ability  and  the 
peculiar  form  of  his  mind.  He  was  rising  to  an  unknown 
destiny  as  regards  the  future  use  of  his  capacities  and  his  vast 
knowledge.  What  had  been,  perhaps,  the  most  remarkable 
feature  in  his  most  remarkable  character,  and  especially  in 
that  supremely  selfish  and  wicked  age  of  humanity,  was  his 
search  for  "  trnfh  for  truth's  salce,^'  or  "  for  the  common  good." 
This  had  now  becoiuc  the  bright  polar  star  of  his  voyage  of 
life,  this  was  the  precious  jewel  of  his  character.     In  this 


126  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

he  was,  perhaps,  more  unlike  other  men  than  in  anything  else. 
It  was  this  that  was  now,  by  little  and  little,  opening  his  mind 
to  the  light  of  heaven.  It  was  this  that  enabled  the  Lord  to 
lead  him,  and  as  few  other  men,  if  any,  had  then  permitted 
themselves  to  be  led.  It  was  this  that  was  the  secret  of  his 
then  dawning  illammation.  This  was  the  sun  of  his  soul,  for 
it  was  the  tabernacle  of  God  with  him.  It  was  this  that  was 
setting  his  mind  in  order  for  a  higher  work,  but  of  which  he 
even  yet  had  no  definite  premonition,  though  his  whole  being 
was,  if  its  real  significance  could  have  been  read,  full  of  the 
clearest  prophecy  of  it.  It  could  not  be  read  because  it  was 
hitherto  an  unknown  fruit  that  he  was  to  bear. 

8.    Tlie  Next  Step. 

Now  look  at  him,  as  he  then  was,  filled  with  the  noblest 
impulses,  every  faculty  yearning  for  the  noblest  action,  with 
energies  irrepressible  for  good  work.  What  will  he  do  with 
himself,  as  moved  by  that  influx  from  the  Lord  which  flows 
into  all  men  ?  What  should  we  expect  that  a  mind  so  devel- 
oped, so  endowed,  and  so  yearning  for  higher  knowledge  and 
greater  use  would  do  ?  Gro  back,  go  down  from  that  lofty 
eminence,  and  make  a  reinvestigation  of  nature?  As  well 
might  the  plant,  after  being  matured  for  bearing  noblest  fruit, 
go  back  into  the  ground  whence  it  sprung ;  as  well  might  the 
astronomer  have  contented  himself  with  a  reinvestigation  of 
our  own  planet  after  he  had  got  glimpses  of  the  wonderful 
significance  and  power  of  the  telescope ;  as  well  might  the 
intelligent  anatomist  be  satisfied  with  his  knowledge  of  bones 
and  muscles  and  tissues  after  he  had  got  glimpses  of  a  world 
within  and  above  them  to  explore.  Swedenborg  had  all  the 
knowledge  he  need  have,  or  could  have,  of  the  gross  ultimates 
of  being  until  the  world  of  causes  was  opened  to  him.  He 
was  already  master,  we  may  say,  of  nature.  But  how  to  go 
farther,  this  was  the  question.  It  was  a  comparatively  simple 
matter  to  investigate  effects ;  but  how  to  rise  to  invisible,  intan- 


IIIS  CALL   AND   PREPARATION.  127 

gible  causes,  this  was  the  question.  Swodenborg  had  satisfied 
himself  that  there  was  a  cause  above  nature,  tliough  down  in 
it.  What  would  be  the  spontaneous  impulse  of  a  mind  en- 
dowed like  his  but  to  make  an  effort,  at  least,  to  reach  that 
cause  ?  lie  believed  that  the  body  had  a  spiritual  counterpart, 
or  soul :  could  he  do  less  than  try  to  learn  its  whereabouts  and 
relation  to  the  body  ? 

This  had  been  a  subject  of  earnest  inquiry  by  learned  men. 
But  it  was  all  speculation  ;  their  modes  did  not  suit  him.  His 
form  of  reasoning  was  that  of  analj/sis, — that  is,  from  effects 
to  causes,  or  from  the  known  to  the  unknown.  It  was  a 
"  Jacob's  ladder"  that  he  was  climbing, — a  ladder  resting  on 
solid  ground  and  its  top  lost  in  the  skies.  He  had  planted 
his  foot  on  the  lowest  rundle,  and  then  ascended,  step  by  step, 
as  he  got  sight  of  higher  ones.  He  was  now  standing  on  the 
topmost  one  visible  y/'om  earth  or  accessible  by  any  appliances 
of  natural  science.  He  was  gazing  still  upward,  and  searching, 
but  in  vain,  for  some  clue  that  could  guide  him  still  higher. 
But  his  intellectual  vision,  as  yet,  could  not  penetrate  the  dark- 
ness. What  should  he  do  ?  What  could  he  do  ?  Did  he 
fxU  upon  his  knees  and  pray  God  by  an  arbitrary  ^*«/  to  re- 
move the  darkness  ?  He  knew  that  there  was  no  efficacy  in  a 
prayer  of  mere  words  or  thoughts,  or  feelings  even.  Did  the 
Lord  come  to  him  in  an  extraordinary  manner  and,  because 
he  was  so  nearly  prepared  for  his  mission,  take  him  more 
especially  under  His  charge  and  lead  him  to  the  light  he  so 
much  desired  ?  Nothing  like  it ;  the  Lord  never  acts  in  this 
way.  Tlie  Lord  did  nothing  for  him  that  He  had  not  always 
been  doing.  The  Lord  gave  him  light,  as  He  had  always  done, 
gave  him  all  he  could  bear,  filled  his  vessel  full,  and  en- 
couraged him,  as  before,  to  journey  onward  and  upward,  to 
follow  the  clue  which  the  light  of  heaven  and  of  his  own  expe- 
rience would  give  him.  And  this  was  enough.  All  that  he 
needed  was  to  work  on,  as  before,  making  the  most,  day  by 
day,  of  his  new  experiences,  which  were  constantly  increasing 


128  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

in  tlicir  prophetic,  but  as  yet  hidden,  significance.  He  was, 
indeed,  nearly  ripe  for  revehitions  of  a  more  interior  kind  than 
he  had  ever  experienced  before. 

9.  nis  Search  for  the  Soul. 

But  his  mind  needed  yet  the  discipline  of  another  kind  of 
investigation.  The  soul  now,  and  her  relation  to  the  body, 
became  the  object  of  his  pursuit.  How  and  where  should  he 
find  her?  This  was  a  new  inquiry,  and  required  the  exercise 
of  new  capacities,  but  which  had  all  along  been  developing, 
and  which  were  now  ready  for  service.  If  he  would  find  the 
soul,  he  said,  he  must  "  seek  her  in  her  own  palace."  And  to 
find  her  there  he  must  explore  the  palace.  So  he  commenced, 
with  untiring  zeal  and  earnestness,  the  study  of  the  human 
body.     And  how  did  he  do  this  ?     Let  him  answer. 

10.  His  Princijyles  of  Investigation. 

"  Whereas  the  soul  has  her  residence  in  a  place  so  sublime 
and  eminent  that  we  cannot  ascend  to  her  and  attain  to  the 
knowledge  of  her,  except  by  a  particular  and  general  investi- 
gation of  the  lower  and  accessible  things  of  her  kingdom,  or 
whereas  she  lives  withdrawn  so  far  within,  that  she  cannot 
be  exposed  to  view  until  the  coverings  under  which  she  is 
hidden  are  unfolded  and  removed  in  order,  it  hence  becomes 
necessary  that  we  ascend  to  her  by  the  same  steps  or  degrees, 
and  the  same  ladder,  by  which  her  nature,  in  the  formation  of 
the  things  of  her  kingdom,  descends  into  her  body.  By  way, 
therefore,  of  an  Introduction  to  Rational  Psychology,  I  will 
premise  the  Doctrine  of  Series  and  Degrees,  the  design 
of  which  is  to  teach  the  nature  of  Order  and  its  rules,  as  ob- 
served and  prescribed  in  the  succession  of  things ;  for  the 
rational  mind,  in  its  analytical  inquiry  into  causes  from  effects, 
nowhere  discovers  them,  except  in  the  Subordination  of  things 
and  the  Co-ordination  of  subordinates  ;  wherefore,  if  we  would 
advance  from  the  sphere  of  eff"ects  to  that  of  causes,  we  must 


HIS   CALL  AND   niEPARATlON.  129 

proceed  by  Orders  and  Degrees,  agreeably  to  what  rational 
analysis  itself  both  approves  and  advises."  E.  A.  K.  I.  579. 
"  By  the  Doctrine  of  series  and  degrees,  when  taken  in  con- 
junction with  experience,  we  are  led  into  the  inmost  knowledge 
of  natural  things."   628. 

Such  were  his  principles  of  investigation.  We  see  that 
they  were  worthy  of  his  antecedent  character,  were,  indeed,  a 
natural  and  necessary  outgrowth  from  it.  No  one  familiar  with 
his  previous  works  could  help  coming  to  this  conclusion.  The 
discovery  and  announcement  of  these  principles  were  the  cul- 
minating point  of  his  growth  thus  far,  and  were  as  necessary  a 
rundle  in  the  ladder  by  which  he  was  climbing  up  to  high 
spiritual  things  as  any  other  step  in  his  progress  had  been. 
And  it  was  so  till  the  last.  There  was  perfect  unity  in  his 
progress  from  first  to  last.  The  posterior  was  the  outgrowth 
of  the  prior,  just  as  is  the  case  with  the  plant  or  the  animal, — 
that  is  to  say,  there  was  no  capacity,  no  quality  of  mind,  no 
discovery  grafted  on  to  what  he  had  already  become  by  de- 
velopment, as  you  graft  the  scion  of  one  tree  upon  another. 
There  was  nothing  in  his  whole  character  but  what  was  con- 
gruous, nothing  successively  developed  but  what  was  related 
to  everything  going  before,  as  an  eiFect  to  its  cause.  This 
grand  doctrine  of  series  and  degrees,  which,  in  a  somewhat 
modified  form,  plays  so  important  a  part  in  all  his  future 
spiritual,  as  it  had  in  his  scientific,  writings,  was  no  super- 
added, arbitrary  gift  from  the  Divine,  but  was  as  much  his  dis- 
covery, or  the  result  of  a  revelation  to  him  because  of  the 
natural  and  continued  action  of  his  peculiar  faculties,  as  is  the 
apple-blossom  the  result  of  the  opening  bud  of  the  apple-tree. 

Being  now  earnestly  in  pursuit  of  a  knowledge  of  the  soul, 
Swedenborg  naturally  took  what  he  supposed  to  be  the  nearest 
and  most  direct  course  to  her.  The  blood,  in  its  several  de- 
grees, including  the  animal  spirits,  or  spirituous  fluid,  with  its 
vessels  and  the  heart,  became  the  first  object  of  his  investi- 
gations;  then  followed  his   "Introduction   to  Rational  Psy- 

7 


130  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

cliology,"  in  which  he  emphasizes  the  importance  of  his  great 
Doctrine  of  Series  and  Degrees ;  and  after  this  a  wonderful 
treatise  on  the  brain,  the  soul's  highest  natural  tabernacle. 
After  this,  having  entered,  as  he  supposed,  the  very  vestibule 
of  the  object  of  his  search,  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  open 
the  door  to  her  inmost  recess ;  but  she  still  eluded  his  grasp. 
But  his  hopes  were  only  deferred,  not  destroyed ;  he  only 
discovered  that  there  must  be  some  modification  in  his  modes 
of  search.  Providence  was  leading  him,  not  arbitrarily  di- 
recting him,  but  leading  him  in  the  only  way  in  which  it  was 
possible  to  lead  him, — namely,  through  his  own  experiences. 

11.  Changes  his  Plan. 

lie  has  now  arrived  at  another  important  stage  of  his  in- 
vestigations. He  finds  it  necessary  to  change  his  course  some- 
what in  his  search  for  the  soul.  What  he  says,  both  in  retro- 
spect and  in  prospect,  is  exceedingly  interesting.  He  had 
published  the  "  Economy  of  the  Animal  Kingdom,"  treating 
of  the  vital  fluids  of  the  body,  the  heart,  and  its  appendages  of 
arteries  and  veins,  and  the  brain.  But  "  before  traversing  the 
whole  field  in  detail,"  he  says,  "  I  made  a  rapid  passage  to  the 
soul,  and  put  forth  a  prodromus  respecting  it.  But,  on  con- 
sidering the  matter  more  deejjly,  I  found  that  I  had  directed 
my  course  thither  both  too  hastily  and  too  fast.  .  .  .  But  as 
the  soul  acts  in  the  supreme  or  innermost  things,  and  does  not 
come  forth  until  all  her  swathings  have  been  successively  un- 
folded, I  am,  therefore,  determined  to  allow  myself  no  respite 
until  I  have  run  through  the  whole  field  to  the  very  goal, — 
until  I  have  traversed  the  universal  animal  kingdom  to  the 
soul.  Thus  I  hope  that,  by  bending  my  course  inwards  con- 
tinually, I  shall  open  all  the  doors  leading  to  her,  and  at  length 
contemplate  the  soul  itself,  by  the  Divine  permission. 

"  To  accomplish  this  grand  end  I  enter  the  circus,  designing 
to  consider  and  examine  thoroughly  the  whole  world  or  micro- 
cosm which  the  soul  inhabits ;  for  I  think  it  is  in  vain  to  seek 


HIS  CALL  AND  PREPARATION.  131 

her  anywlicre  but  in  her  own  kingdom.  .  .  .  The  body  is  her 
image,  resemblance,  and  type  ;  she  is  the  mode,  the  idea,  the 
head, — that  is,  the  soul  of  the  body, — thus  she  is  represented  in 
the  body  as  in  a  mirror.  I  am,  therefore,  resolved  to  examine 
carefully  the  whole  anatomy  of  her  body,  from  the  heel  to  the 
head,  and  from  part  to  part.  .  .  .  But,  since  it  is  impossible  to 
climb  or  leap  from  the  organic,  physical,  and  material  world 
— I  mean  the  body — immediately  to  the  soul,  ...  it  has  been 
necessary  to  lay  down  new  ways  by  which  I  might  be  led  to  her, 
and  thus  gain  access  to  her  palace, — namely,  to  discover,  dis- 
engage, and  bring  forth,  by  the  most  intense  application  and 
study,  certain  new  doctrines  for  my  guidance,  which  are  (as 
my  plan  shows)  the  doctrines  of  forms,  of  order  and  degrees, 
of  series  and  society,  o^ communication  and  influx,  oi correspond- 
ence and  representation,  and  of  modification. 

"  Let  us  then,"  he  says  in  the  closing  paragraph  of  the 
Prologue  to  the  "  Animal  Kingdom,"  from  which  the  above  ex- 
tracts are  made,  "  gird  up  our  loins  for  the  work.  Experience 
is  at  our  side  with  a  full  horn  of  plenty.  The  nine  virgins  are 
present  also,  adorned  with  the  riches  of  nearly  two  thousand 
years, — I  mean  all  the  sciences, — by  whose  abundance,  powers, 
and  patronage  the  work  is  constructed.  .  .  .  All  things  at  the 
present  day  stand  provided  and  prepared,  and  await  the  light. 
The  ship  is  in  the  harbor ;  the  sails  are  swelling ;  the  east  wind 
blows :  let  us  weigh  anchor  and  put  forth  to  sea." 

A  knowledge  of  the  soul,  he  says,  will  constitute  the  crown 
of  his  studies.  Of  the  indispensable  qualifications  for  a  clear 
perception  of  truth,  he  reiterates,  among  others,  "  the  love  of 
truth  for  truth's  sake,  or  for  the  sake  of  the  common  good." 
This  was  indeed  the  real  illuminator, — or  the  occasion  of  it — 
of  his  pathway  to  the  goal  which  he  so  earnestly  sought. 

To  understand  Swedenborg's  present  state  of  progress 
towards  a  final  preparation  for  his  great  crowning  mission, — as 
yet  unknown  even  to  himself, — we  need  to  be  familiar  with 
those  grand  treatises,  the  "  Economy  of  the  Animal  Kingdom" 


132  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

and  the  "  Animal  Kingdom."  No  one  can  read  and  understand 
a  single  paragraph  from  either  of  these  wonderfully  original  and 
profound  works,  especially  the  latter, — his  last  great  work  before 
the  opening  of  his  spiritual  vision, — without  being  astonished  as 
well  at  the  novelty  as  at  the  depth  and  breadth  of  his  thoughts. 
One  of  the  results  of  his  investigations  is  most  especially  in- 
teresting in  this  connection,  as  showing  that  his  next  transition 
phase  of  life,  or  of  use,  was  not  a  sudden  leap,  as  from  darkness 
into  light,  or  from  ignorance  on  a  certain  subject  to  glowing 
intelligence  upon  it,  but  that  all  his  knowledge,  all  his  progress 
— every  step  of  it — in  intelligence  and  wisdom  and  heavenly 
light,  was  the  result  of  experience,  of  earnest,  devoted,  plodding 
industry,  and  just  as  much  so  in  the  latter  part  as  in  the  earlier 
part  of  his  life.  No  one  who  will  study  his  life,  as  revealed  in 
his  works  from  beginning  to  end,  in  the  order  in  which  they 
came  from  his  hand,  can  fail  to  be  convinced  of  this.  In  the 
main,  one  was  the  spontaneous  outgrowth  of  another  all  along 
till  his  death.  It  was  one  continuous  growth,  one  continuous 
succession  of  buildings  up,  the  higher  upon  the  lower,  to  the 
cap-stone,  in  perfect  and  undeviating  symmetry.  There  was  no 
break,  no  gap,  no  "  fault"  (as  the  geologists  say)  in  Sweden- 
borg's  progress,  or  in  his  character.  He  was  all  along,  and 
from  step  to  step,  a  complete,  whole  man,  a  sound  man. 

12.    Correspondence  and  Representation. 

We  all  acknowledge  that  Swedenborg's  great,  peculiar  mis- 
sion was  to  open  the  Word,  to  explain  Sacred  Scripture,  and 
to  do  so  by  a  knowledge  of  the  great  law  according  to  which 
it  was  written, — namely,  the  Science  of  Correspondences.  How 
did  he  gain  this  knowledge  ?  Was  it  an  arbitrary  revelation 
to  him  ?  Or  did  he  receive  it  in  the  order  of  logical  thought, 
inquiry,  and  investigation,  as  he  had  received  all  his  knowl- 
edge ?  That  is,  did  it  come  to  him  little  by  little,  as  a  revela- 
tion from  the  Divine  to  honest,  loving,  persevering  thought, 
just  as  all  of  what  is  called  original  knowledge  comes  ?     Pre- 


HIS  CALL   AND   PREPARATION.  133 

cisely  so,  as  is  abundantly  proved  by  bis  writings.  Like  all 
otber  revelations  from  tbe  Lord,  tbis  peculiar  kind  bad  its 
seed-time,  its  germinating  state,  and  tben  its  progressive  de- 
velopment till  the  consummation  of  its  full  and  effective  fruit- 
bearing  maturity. 

It  will  be  remembered  tbat  tbe  Doctrine  of  Correspondence 
and  Representation  was  one  of  bis  "  netv  doctrines,"  announced 
in  the  Prologue  to  tbe  "Animal  Kingdom"  as  one  of  tbe  sub- 
jects of  investigation  in  bis  new  chase  after  the  soul.  It  is 
very  plain,  from  wbat  be  says  of  correspondence  and  represen- 
tation in  various  places  in  tbe  "  Animal  Kingdom,"  tbat  a  knowl- 
edge of  tbis  subject  did  not  drop  down,  already  acquired,  from 
God,  out  of  heaven,  into  bis  mind,  any  more  than  any  other  kind 
of  knowledge  did.  In  the  first  volume  of  the  "Animal  King- 
dom" be  speaks  of  "  a  perpetual  symbolical  representation  of 
spiritual  life  in  corporeal  life,  and  likewise  of  a  perpetual  typical 
representation  of  tbe  soul  in  tbe  body,"  and  adds  the  following 
very  significant  note,  significant  as  foretokening  that  use  of  such 
knowledge,  of  which,  though  so  near  at  hand,  he  bad  as  yet 
had  scarcely  a  premonition  : 

"  In  our  Doctrine  of  Representations  and  Correspondences 
we  shall  treat  of  both  these  symbolical  and  typical  representa- 
tions, and  of  tbe  astonisbing  tbings  which  occur,  I  will  not 
say  of  tbe  living  body  only,  but  tbrougbout  nature,  and  wbich 
correspond  so  entirely  to  supreme  and  spiritual  things  that 
one  would  swear  tbat  the  physical  world  was  purely  symbolical 
of  tbe  spiritual  world,  insomuch  tbat,  if  we  choose  to  express 
any  natural  truth  in  physical  and  definite  vocal  terms,  and  to 
convert  these  terms  only  into  tbe  corresponding  spiritual 
terms,  we  shall  by  tbis  means  elicit  a  spiritual  trutb  or  tbeolog- 
ical  dogma,  in  place  of  tbe  physical  trutb  or  precept,  although 
no  mortal  would  have  predicted  tbat  anything  of  tbe  kind 
could  possibly  arise  by  bare  literal  transposition,  inasmuch  as 
tbe  one  precept,  considered  separately  from  tbe  otber,  appears 
to  have  absolutely  no  relation  to  it."     He  further  adds :  "  I 


134  SWEDENBORO   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

intend  liereafter  to  communicate  a  number  of  examples  of 
such  correspondence,  together  with  a  vocabulary  containing 
the  terms  of  spiritual  things,  as  well  as  of  the  physical  things 
for  which  they  are  to  be  substituted.  This  symbolism  per- 
vades the  living  body,  and  I  have  chosen  simply  to  indicate  it 
here  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  the  spiritual  meaning  of 
searching  the  reinsy  lie  was  still  only  a  scientist  and  philos- 
opher. 

13.  His  State  Ripening, 

We  may  now  have  glimpses  of  the  vast  significance  of  Swe- 
denborg's  whole  previous  life.  We  see,  as  we  draw  near  to 
the  grand  consummation,  how  he  has  been  preparing,  in  the 
order  of  his  nature  as  a  man,  according  to  his  peculiar  tastes 
and  capabilities,  as  a  tree  to  bear  fruit,  and  as  a  tree  to  bear 
fruit  of  its  own  peculiar  forrtx^  size,  color,  and  flavor.  If  we 
could  examine  the  tree  in  its  germinal  beginning,  and  in  all  the 
successive  phases  of  its  development,  we  should  see  every 
quality  of  the  fruit  foretokened  in  every  fibre  and  in  every  par- 
ticle of  fluid  belonging  to  every  phase  of  development  of  the 
tree.  So  of  Swedenborg.  His  present  state  of  knowledge  and 
experience,  and  developed  capacities  and  intuition,  is  simply  a 
fulfilment  of  his  whole  life,  and  everything  in  it,  as  a  prophecy, 
is  simply  the  ripening  fruit,  of  which  every  thought,  and  every 
phase  of  every  thought,  was  a  prediction.  And  just  so  sure  as 
the  tree  is  the  bearer  of  its  own  fruit,  is  he  the  author,  and  the 
only  responsible  author,  of  his  own  work,  and  of  every  part  of 
it.  But  he  can  see — as  the  tree  cannot,  and  as  the  unre- 
generate  man  cannot — that  he,  like  everybody,  in  fact,  every- 
thing, else,  is  but  the  servant  or  instrument  of  the  Lord ;  and 
he  loves  to  acknowledge  this. 

It  is  plain  that  what  Swedenborg  has  thus  far  learned  of 
correspondence  (remember  this  was  before  his  illumination) 
has  come  as  the  result  of  his  study  of  nature,  and  of  his  pecu- 
liar modes  of  search  after  the  soul.  By  this  study  and  these 
modes  he  was,  as  it  were,  spontaneously  led  to  a  knowledge  of 


HIS   CALL   AND   PREPARATION.  ]35 

the  relation  of  natural  things  as  effects,  to  spiritual  principles 
as  causes,  which  relation  is  what  is  meant  by  correspondence. 
And  such  knowledge,  so  far  as  knowledge  is  concerned,  is  the 
consummation  of  the  last,  and  the  foundation  and  beginning 
of  his  next,  phase  of  life, — it  is  the  fruit  of  the  tree  not  yet 
ripe,  but  beautiful  in  promise  ;  it  needs  a  yet  warmer,  brighter 
radiance  from  heaven  to  bring  it  to  maturity. 

14.  Another  Transition. 

Up  to  this  next  transition  state — namely,  that  from  the  com- 
pletion of  his  course  as  a  scientist  and  -philosopher  to  that  of 
his  "  call  to  a  more  holy  office" — all  are  agreed  that  he  was,  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word,  his  own  master,  though  always, 
like  all  other  men,  a  servant  of  the  Lord,  and  that  his  works 
were  the  legitimate  fruits  of  his  own  free  thought,  and  unaided 
but  by  that  influx  from  the  Lord  which  is  equally  a  gift  to  all 
men.  But  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  who  has  not  followed 
him  in  his  wonderful  development  of  rational  and  illuminated 
thought,  by  a  systematic  study  of  his  works,  to  form  any  ade- 
quate conception  of  the  huge  proportions  of  the  man  as  he  at 
this  stage  of  his  life  stands  before  us.  He  is  immeasurable, 
by  any  known  standard,  in  almost  every  attribute  of  his  nature. 
His  regeneration,  which  has  been  gradually  ripening  into 
"  love  of  truth  from  good,"  has  spread  a  halo  of  light  around 
every  fiiculty.  Because  of  his  highly  regenerated  state,  his 
mind  is  already  basking  in  the  very  light  itself  of  heaven, — he 
is  high  up  on  the  acclivity  of  the  mountain,  above  the  clouds 
of  earth,  and  with  his  eyes  still  turned  upward.  Already  is 
he  advancing  into  a  state  of  "  revelation  from  perception,"  or 
of  "internal  inspiration,"  which  is  equally  the  gift  of  all  re- 
generated men  and  angels. 

Now  here  are  two  things  whose  significance  we  want  to 
understand  :  the  first  is  the  fact  that  the  sunshine  of  heaven 
is  actually  streaming  down  into  his  mind,  and  evidently  from  a 
high  altitude.     It  is  more  than  day-dawn, — that  took  place  in 


136  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

the  early  part  of  his  manhood,  all  his  works  bear  witness  to 
it.  But  it  was  now  evidently  more  than  the  light  of  earliest 
day  in  which  he  was  directly  searching  for  the  soul.  His  last 
great  work — the  "  Animal  Kingdom" — shows  an  advanced 
state  of  even  spiritual  illumination  ;  every  paragraph  of  his 
"  analysis'^  is  radiant  with  light. 

The  other  thing  is  the  fact  of  his  wonderfully  developed 
capacities  and  his  vast  learning.  His  capacities  are  as  a  rich 
soil,  and  his  stores  of  knowledge  as  the  seeds  of  every  variety 
of  good  food  planted  in  it. 

What  do  we  expect  on  earth  from  such  a  relation  of  things, 
— namely,  the  summer  sunshine  flowing  down  into  the  planted 
and  cultivated  field  of  fertile  soil?  And  that  such  a  mind 
as  Swedenborg's  was  as  such  a  field  is  plain  from  his  own 
words  : 

"  Man  can  form  and  retain  no  idea,  notion,  or  conception  of 
interior  truths  except  from  scientifics  ;  but  scientific  truths  are 
founded  upon  sensual  truths,  for  without  sensual  truths  scien- 
tific truths  cannot  be  comprehended.  These  different  kinds  of 
truths  succeed  each  other  in  order.  Man  cannot  be  confirmed 
in  interior  truths  or  doetrinals  except  by  ideas  derived  from 
things  sensual  and  scientific ;  for  nothing  is  ever  given  with 
man  in  his  thought — even  as  to  the  deepest  arcanum  of  faith 
— which  has  not  with  it  a  natural  and  sensual  idea."  A.  C. 
3310. 

Again  :  "  Scientifics  must  be  arranged  into  order  in  the 
natural  before  the  arrangement  of  the  truths  of  the  church, 
because  the  latter  are  to  be  apprehended  by  the  former ;  for 
nothing  can  .enter  the  understanding  of  man  without  ideas 
acquired  from  such  scientifics  as  man  has  procured  to  himself 
from  infancy.  Man  is  altogether  ignorant  that  every  truth  of 
the  church  which  is  called  a  truth  of  fiiith  is  founded  upon  his 
scientifics,  and  that  he  apprehends  it  and  keeps  it  in  the  mem- 
ory, and  calls  it  forth  from  the  memory,  by  ideas  wrought  from 
the  scientifics  with  him."    5510. 


HIS  CALL  AND  PREPARATION.  137 

This  is  most  remarkable,  and  is  full  of  suggestion.  It  shows 
the  importance  of  the  high  cultivation  of  the  external  mind 
and  the  acquisition  of  scientifics,  by  which  are  meant  all 
kinds  of  knowledge  acquired  by  all  kinds  of  experiences  of 
the  external  mind.  But  how  full  of  significance  when  we 
apply  all  this  to  Swedenborg's  case !  What  a  harvest  is  in 
him  in  prophecy  !  But  the  kind  of  harvest,  so  unlike  any- 
thing hitherto  of  earth,  who  can  tell  ?  Its  peculiar  promise 
is  in  the  peculiar  soil,  the  ground,  stored  with  such  varied 
and  wonderful  experiences  and  potencies.  And  it  is  of  such  a 
nature  that  it  cannot  remain  fallow,  it  must  bring  forth  ;  for 
the  fact  that  Swedenborg  was  "  in  good,  and  in  truth  from 
good,"  opened  his  mind,  as  a  field,  upward  to  the  very  light  of 
heaven.  The  Lord  was  in  that  light,  was,  indeed,  the  light 
itself.  Can  too  much  be  expected  from  such  a  relation  of 
things  ? 

15.   Ripened  for  Nobler  Worh. 

Thus  far  all  agree  that  Swedenborg  became  what  he  was  by 
following  the  leadings  of  Providence,  and  by  thus  cultivating 
and  developing  his  native  capacities.  Nothing  was  added  to, 
engrafted  upon,  or  "  instilled"  into  him.  There  was  nothing 
in  him  but  what  was  of  him  and  belonged  to  him,  and  by  his 
own  acquisition  and  appropriation,  as  much  as  the  fruit  belongs 
to  the  tree  on  which  it  grows.  Thus  far  he  has  been  growing 
and  ripening  in  the  order  of  life.  And  who  can  read  his  later 
philosophical  works,  especially  his  "  Animal  Kingdom,"  without 
being  convinced  that  he  was,  in  the  highest  and  truest  sense  of 
the  word,  a  man,  an  exceptional  man  ;  that  he  was  as  a  fully- 
developed  tree  prepared  for  the  production  of  some  unknown 
and  extraordinary  fruit  ?  Who  can  read  the  full  significance, 
who  can  interpret,  indeed,  the  wonderful  prophecies,  of  such  a 
combination  of  human  virtues  and  capacities  without  looking 
for  results  such  as  had  never  been  the  fruit  of  human  intellect 
before?  A  mind  so  vast,  so  cultivated,  so  filled,  and  filled 
with  such  varied  and  exalted  stores,  and  so  regenerated  into 

7* 


138  SWEDENBORO  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

the  very  light  of  heaven,  and  thus  so  completely  one  with  the 
Lord,  so  perfectly  obedient  to  every  impulse  of  inflowing  life 
and  light  from  Him :  who  can  think  of  such  a  mind,  of  such 
a  full  man,  and  then  conceive  of  any  necessity  for  any  change 
of  his  relation  to  the  Lord,  for  the  sake  of  the  work  which  he 
had  to  do,  any  change  other  than  as  that  of  the  continued 
perfection  of  the  blade  for  the  sake  of  the  corn  ?  And  this  is 
precisely  the  relation  of  all  Swedenborg's  works  to  himself, 
theological  as  well  as  scientific :  they  are  as  the  corn  to  the 
blade,  or  the  fruit  to  the  tree.  They  must  be  so,  or  he  has 
taught  us  a  false  philosophy.  What  was  now  the  inevitable  and 
unmistakable  prophecy  of  Swedenborg's  whole  being,  and  his 
relation  to  the  Lord,  but,  if  we  could  read  it  truly,  exactly 
what  his  theological  writings  fulfilled.  We  can  conceive  of 
the  sun's  having  greater  ^oi^^e/-  over  the  fruit  as  it  ripens,  thus 
of  its  making  it  sweeter  or  more  like  itself;  but  we  cannot 
conceive  of  its  cluinging^  in  any  sense,  or  manner,  or  degree, 
its  relation  to  the  fruit,  or  of  its  making  the  fruit  depend  less 
upon  the  producing-tree  for  whatever  is  peculiar  in  its  form 
and  quality.  Swedenborg  was  now  advanced  to  a  highly  ma- 
ture state,  and  therefore  was  prepared  to  bear  riper  and  sweeter 
fruit.  As  a  branch  he  had  become  more  perfectly  recipient  of 
what  flowed  into  him  from  the  Vine.  And  this  did  not  make 
him  less  himself,  or  his  works  less  his  own,  but  more  in  unison 
with  the  Divine,  from  which  all  regenerated  men  and  angels 
delight  to  act. 

This  was  precisely  the  manhood  that  was  now  needed  to  be 
the  medium  of  instruction  from  the  Lord  for  the  coming  man- 
hood of  the  New  Jerusalem, — it  was  an  exemplar  and  a  pre- 
cursor, a  John  the  Baptist, — for  the  coming  manhood  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  is  to  be  distinctively,  like  his,  a  free  and 
rational  one,  and  in  this  respect  differing  from  any  preceding 
manhood.  This  was  the  grandest  and  noblest  finite  manhood 
that  has  ever  existed,  and  it  was  the  medium  of  the  grandest 
and   noblest  mission    to   mankind.      And   every  attribute   of 


HIS   CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  139 

Swedenborg's  manhood  entered  into  his  mission ;  not  one  of 
his  faculties  was  suppressed ;  and  every  one  was  filled  with 
light  and  life  from  the  Lord ;  every  one  was  a  tabernacle  of 
the  Lord,  as  the  branch  is  of  life  from  the  vine.  The  coming 
man  is  to  feed  on  rational  truth  such  as  had  never  been 
revealed  before ;  its  verbal  statement  must  come  from  the 
Lord,  therefore,  throvgh  an  intensely  rational  mind,  for  no 
other  mind  could  adequately  measure  it  down  to  the  wants  of 
such  rational  mind.  And  Swedenborg  was  now  to  do  a  work, 
not  which  would  detract  from,  or  in  any  sense  or  manner  limit, 
his  responsible  manhood,  or  make  him  less  a  man,  but  which 
would  help  to  carry  him  on  to  still  higher  and  nobler  manhood, 
and  thus  continue  to  make  him  a  still  more  and  more  perfect 
servant  of  the  Lord. 

16.  His  Intromission. 
But  Swedenborg's  new  work,  on  account  of  its  peculiar 
nature,  required  new  and  extraordinary  qualifications,  which 
could  be  acquired  only  by  extraordinary  means.  I  refer  to 
his  intromission  into  the  spiritual  world.  This  was  extraor- 
dinary because  of  his  extraordinary  state  of  reception.  By 
his  faithful  obedience  to  the  laws  of  human  life,  Swedenborg 
had  as  naturally  and  as  spontaneously  grown  up  into  the  light 
of  heaven  as  a  plant  grows  up  into  its  flowering  state.  His 
illustration,  or  internal  inspiration,  was  as  naturally  and  inevi- 
tably the  result  of  such  growth  as  the  opening  of  the  flower 
is  of  such  state  of  the  plant.  So  also  was  his  spiritual  vision, 
or  open  and  conscious  presence  with  spirits  and  angels  in  the 
other  life.  Not  that  all  men  in  a  corresponding  state  of  regen- 
eration have  this  gift,  though  they  have  that  of  internal  in- 
spiration or  illustration,  yet  this  even  with  a  difiference,  accord- 
ing to  mental  genius  and  endowment.  Swedenborg's  spiritual 
vision  was  as  much  the  necessary  and  spontaneous  result  of  his 
peculiar  character  of  mind  as  was  all  that  was  peculiar  or 
exceptional  in  his  scientific  attainments  or  in  his  illumination. 


140  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

Open  intercourse  with  angels  was  an  extraordinary  gift,  but  no 
more  so,  perhaps,  than  some  of  his  other  gifts.  He  belonged 
to  a  peculiar  province  of  the  Grand  Man,  so  does  every 
man.  He  simply  had  the  endowments  characteristic  of  the 
province  to  which  he  belonged,  just  as  the  eye,  the  ear,  the 
hand,  or  the  foot  has  its  peculiar  function  because  of  its  form 
and  its  relation  to  other  parts  of  the  body.  Some  people  are 
spontaneously  clairvoyant,  and  do  not  understand  why  all  are 
not  so ;  whilst  others  cannot  possibly  conceive  of  anything  above 
nature,  and  are,  therefore,  inevitably  skeptical  about  another 
or  spiritual  state  of  existence.  All  are  more  really  in  the  spirit- 
ual world  than  in  the  natural  world,  for  all  are,  in  their  real 
nature,  spiritual  beings,  the  body  being  only  a  temporary  tene- 
ment and  instrument  to  give  us  conscious  and  eifective  being 
in  this  world.  When  men  were  in  the  order  of  life,  visions 
were  frequent.  They  are  not  contrary  to  true  human  nature, 
but  one  of  its  birthrights,  but  now  lost  because  of  abuse.  It 
required  no  interference  with  the  laws  of  life  for  Swedenborg 
to  receive  this  gift.  It  only  required  that  he  should  be  of  a 
certain  genius,  and  iu  a  certain  state,  just  as  for  one  of  the 
many  organs  of  the  body  to  see,  rather  than  hear  or  taste  or 
touch,  it  must  have  a  certain  form  and  structure,  and  then  it 
sees  as  naturally  and  spontaneously  as  another  organ  hears, — it 
cannot  help  doing  so.  And  such  was  Swedenborg's  case  as  to 
spiritual  vision :  it  as  much  belonged  to  the  man,  as  he  then 
was,  as  any  other  gift  did. 

17.  His  Intromission  Progressive. 

Swedenborg's  intromission  was  gradual,  just  as  his  illumina- 
tion was,  just  as  the  development  of  every  one  of  his  faculties 
was,  thus  was  not  an  arbitrary  gift  by  the  Lord,  instantane- 
ously conferred  upon  him  by  aim^Xy  opening  his  spiritual  eyes. 
His  spiritual  sight  was  opened  when  he  was  ripe  for  it,  like 
the  flower  from  the  bud,  and  as  the  result  of  development  of 
what  was  inherent  in  his  very  nature,  and  thus  because  that 


HIS   CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  141 

was,  in  his  case,  the  next  orderly  and  inevitable  step  in  the 
process  of  growth.  There  had  not  been,  and  there  was  not 
then,  any  sudden  transition  in  his  state,  as  to  illustration  (which 
is  an  entirely  different  thing  from  spiritual  vision),  as  if  by 
some  extraordinary  bestowment  by  Divine  Providence.  He 
first  had  "  illustration  of  the  natural  mind"  as  is  evident  from 
the  wonderful  character  of  his  later  philosophical  works.  And 
such  illustration,  he  says,  "  does  not  ascend  by  discrete  degrees, 
but  it  increases  in  a  continuous  degree  ;  and  in  proportion  as  it 
increases  there  is  illustration  from  the  interior  by  the  light  of 
the  two  superior  degrees.  The  natural  mind  may,  therefore, 
be  elevated  into  the  light  of  heaven,  in  which  the  angels  are, 
and  may  perceive  naturally,  and  thus  not  so  fully,  what  the 
angels  perceive  spiritually  ;  but,  nevertheless,  the  natural  mind 
of  man  cannot  he  elevated  into  the  very  light  of  the  angels^ 
(Note  this.)  "  When  man's  natural  mind  is  raised  into  the 
light  of  heaven  he  can  think,  and  even  speak,  with  the  angels  ; 
but  then  the  thought  and  speech  of  the  angels  flow  into  the 
natural  thought  and  speech  of  the  man,  and  not  the  reverse; 
on  which  account  the  angels  speak  with  man  in  natural  lan- 
guage, thus  in  his  mother-tongue.  This  takes  place  by  a 
spiritual  influx  into  the  natural,  and  not  by  any  natural  influx 
into  the  spiritual.  Human  wisdom,  therefore,  which  is  nat- 
ural as  long  as  a  man  lives  in  the  natural  world,  cannot,  on 
any  consideration,  he  raised  into  angelic  wisdom,  hut  only  into 
a  certain  image  of  it."  D.  L.  W.  256,  257. 

And  this  is  the  difi"erence  between  Swedenborg's  state  and 
that  of  the  men  of  the  Golden  Age,  who  also  conversed  with 
angels.  They  were  not  "  in  any  other  than  natural  light,"  or 
the  light  of  the  natural  mind.  He  was  also  in  spiritual  light, 
he  was  "  among  the  angels  like  one  of  them,"  and  consequently 
imbibed  truths  in  the  very  light  itself  of  heaven,  and  thus 
immediately  from  the  Lord,  who  is  that  light.  There  was 
with  him  a  certain  kind  of  separation  from  his  body,  as  to  his 
intellectual  part,  which  enahled  him  to  be  with  the  angels  as 


142  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

one  of  them,  and  to  partake  of  their  wisdom  ;  and  this  was  the 
combined  result  of  his  state,  as  to  regeneration,  and  of  his 
spiritual  visions.  This  enabled  lihn, — different  from  other  re- 
generated men, — even  while  in  the  body,  to  be  "  illuminated 
by  the  light  of  the  Word  more  proximately."  It  was  this 
that  enabled  him  fii-st  to  perceive  the  internal  sense  of  the 
Word,  and  then  to  formulate  it  in  his  own  understanding  and 
explain  it  to  others.  In  fact,  being  then  regenerated  up  into 
the  higher  degrees  of  his  nature,  and  also  having  "  spiritual 
sight,"  he  was  in  the  very  light  itself,  the  very  "  spirit  of  life 
itself,"  of  the  Word,  which  is  the  spiritual  sense  in  its  own 
substantial  form  ;  for  he  says,  "  if  you  are  willing  to  believe  it, 
man's  internal  man  is  in  the  internal  sense  of  its  own  accord, 
for  it  is  a  heaven  in  the  least  form,  and  it  is  with  the  angels 
of  heaven  when  it  is  open."  A.  C.  10,400.  This  does  not,  of 
course,  mean  that  the  "  internal  man"  is  in  the  "  internal 
sense,"  in  the  verbalized  form  of  the  internal  sense,  as  contained 
in  Swedenborg's  writings,  but  in  its  form  as  "  living  light ;"  for, 
as  we  intend  to  show,  there  is  an  infinite  difference  between 
the  internal  sense,  as  finited,  formulated,  and  expressed  in 
human  language,  and  the  internal  sense,  as  the  very  spirit  and 
life  of  the  Word. 

In  view  of  this  fact — namely,  such  complete,  conscious  life 
of  a  man,  while  on  earth,  with  the  angels  of  heaven,  as  was 
the  case  with  Swedenborg — we  are  overwhelmed  in  wonder  and 
amazement.  But  let  us  not  lose  our  senses.  There  never  was 
an  effect  without  a  cause,  and  that  cause,  however  extraordinary 
and  seemingly  miraculous  the  effect,  something  else  than  God's 
deviation,  in  any  sense  or  manner  whatever,  from  His  own 
eternally  unchangeable  laws  or  mode  of  operation.  True, 
Swedenborg  says  that,  "  since  the  creation"  it  had  not  been 
granted  to  any  one,  as  it  was  to  him,  "  to  be  at  the  same  time 
in  natural  light  and  in  spiritual  light,  .  .  .  and  thereby  to  see 
the  wonderful  things  of  heaven,  to  be  among  the  angels  like 
one  of  them,  and  at  the  same  time  to  imbibe  truths  in  light, 


BIS  CALL  AND   PREPARATION.  143 

and  thus  to  perceive  and  teacli  them,  and  consequently  to  be 
led  by  the  Lord."  But  Swedenborg  does  not  say  that  no  one 
in  the  future  "  will  ever  come  into  a  like  state,  even  as  no  one 
before  him  had  ever  been  in  such  a  state,"  as  is  sometimes 
illogically  inferred.  This  would  be  saying  that  the  Lord  had 
deviated  from  His  one  only  law  of  influx,  or  had  added  some- 
thing to  its  operation,  in  order  to  make  a  prodigy  of  Sweden- 
borg, which  all  partakers  of  the  true  philosophy  of  developing 
humanity,  as  taught  in  Swedenborg's  writings,  will  most  em- 
phatically deny ;  for  all  must  see  and  acknowledge  that  the 
Divine  Influx,  so  far  as  God  is  concerned,  is  the  same  to  all 
and  at  all  times,  and  that  any  diff'erence  in  results,  therefore, 
must  be  owing  to  difierence  in  recipient  conditions.  The  fact 
is,  Swedenborg  was  the  inauguration,  or  an  exemplification  of 
the  inauguration,  of  a  new  and  extraordinary  phase  of  develop- 
ing humanity,  a  phase  as  difi'erent  from  every  preceding  one 
as  youthhood  is  from  childhood,  or  manhood  from  youthhood. 
Humanity  had  never  before  been  capable  of  what  Swedenborg 
was,  or  of  what  humanity  is  to  be,  capable.  Swedenborg  lived 
in  the  transition  age  from  the  old  to  the  new,  but  was  of  the 
new.  There  are  recipient  conditions  in  youthhood  that  do  not 
exist  in  childhood,  and  in  manhood  that  do  not  exist  in  youth- 
hood, also  in  spiritual  manhood  that  do  not  exist  in  natural 
manhood.  What  if  Swedenborg  lived  in  the  dawning  spiritual 
manhood  of  the  race :  how  difi'erent  would  be  the  recipient 
conditions  furnished  by  his  mind  for  the  operation  of  the  Di- 
vine Infiux  from  any  existing  before  !  Swedenborg  was  most 
plainly  a  grand  exemplar  of  a  new  kind  or  new  degree  of  man- 
hood. There  existed  in  him  the  new  conditions,  and  there- 
fore he  had  the  new  gifts,  and  gifts  that  were  extraordinary 
only  because  they  were  new.  Not  that  all  are  going  to  have 
the  same  gifts  that  he  had,  or  do  tlie  same  work.  There  will 
be  all  the  difi"erence  in  the  individuals  of  the  new  manhood 
that  there  had  been  in  tliose  of  the  old.  Some  will  be  high 
and  some  low,  some  internal  and  some  external,  in  the  difi"cr- 


144  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

cnt  provinces  of  the  Grand  Man  of  the  coming  humanity,  as 
in  the  past.  The  Lord  will  make  out  of  all,  precisely  as  He 
did  out  of  Swedenborg,  all  that  the  recqnent  conditions  of  their 
mind  will  admit  of.  And  the  coming  man,  as  he  becomes  re- 
generate, will,  like  Swedenborg,  delight  to  be  led  by  the  Lord, 
and  to  acknowledge  that  all  good  is  from  Him,  and  that  he  is 
only  the  Lord's  servant. 

18.  Importance  of  Im  Intromission. 

But,  to  return  to  the  fact  of  Swedenborg's  intromission,  we 
may  see  what  an  important  factor  it  was  in  his  preparation 
for  his  work  from  the  following,  as  quoted  by  another  from 
one  of  his  letters  to  Dr.  Beyer.     He  says, — 

"  When  heaven  was  opened  to  me  it  was  necessary  for  me 
first  to  learn  the  Hebrew  language,  as  well  as  the  correspond- 
ences, of  which  the  whole  Bible  is  composed,  which  led  me  to 
read  the  Word  of  God  over  many  times ;  and  as  the  Word  of 
God  is  the  source  whence  all  theology  must  be  derived,  I  was 
thereby  enabled  to  receive  instruction  from  the  Lord,  who  is 
the  Word." 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Swedenborg  became  aware  of  the 
nature  of  his  real  mission,  and  that  he,  therefore,  commenced 
specific  preparation  for  it  by  the  study  of  Hebrew,  and  of  the 
Word  in  Hebrew,  and  of  the  "  science  of  correspondences,"  of 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  had  glimpses  years  before. 
He  had  acquired  certain  knowledges  on  the  plane  of  Nature, 
knowledges  of  the  relations  of  natural  things  as  eff"ects  to 
spiritual  principles  as  causes ;  these  served  as  vessels — "  ves- 
sels of  gold  and  vessels  of  silver" — into  which  he  could  receive, 
or  which  rendered  him  capable  of  receiving,  such  indispensable 
spiritual  knowledges  as  were  the  result  of  his  open  intercourse 
with  spirits  and  angels.  His  intromission  enabled  him  to  com- 
plete his  knowledge  of  correspondences,  for  this  enabled  him  to 
see  plainly  the  causes  towards  which  he  had  so  long  been 
climbing  up  from  efi'ects.     He  was  now  enabled  to  see  the 


HIS   CALL   AND   PREPARATION.  145 

spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  and  to  loarn  things  about  the 
Word  which  he  could  not  have  learned,  even  though  in  a  state 
of  spiritual  illumination,  from  the  mere  letter.  He  was  now 
enabled  also  to  see  the  mysteries  of  the  spiritual  world,  and 
thus  the  state  of  man  after  death.  Even  this  kind  of  knowl- 
edge was  indispensable  to  a  complete,  rational  understanding  of 
the  Word  in  its  practical  relation  to  humanity, — that  is,  to  men 
and  angels, — and  most  especially  indispensable  to  a  rational  ex- 
planation of  the  Word  ;  and  this  was  what  was  now  specifically 
needed, — namely,  a  rational  explanation  of  the  Word. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  WRITINGS  AND  THE  SPIRITUAL  SENSE. 

1.    The  Writings. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  question,  What  is  the  real  nature 
of  Swedenborg's  writings  ?  What  do  they  do  ?  or  what  does 
Swedenborg  profess  to  do  ?  In  the  very  significant  words  of 
another : 

"  We  must  allow  the  Writings  of  the  Church  to  explain 
themselves,  and  then  we  shall  never  find  any  contradictions 
therein." 

Now,  the  Writings  seem  to  teach  some  of  their  readers  that 
they  are  "  the  Lord's  writings  ;"  that  they  are  the  "  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Word ;"  that  they  are  the  "  Word  without  the 
external  sense ;"  and  that  they  are  the  "  Lord's  Advent,"  and 
are  the  "  Holy  City,  New  Jerusalem." 

We  grant  that  there  are  expressions  in  Swedenborg's  writ- 
ings that  seem  to  justify  these  conclusions.  But  the  spirit  and 
philosophy  of  his  teachings,  or  the  obvious  import  of  his  teach- 
ings as  a  loliole,  lead  to  no  such  conclusions. 

Let  us  now  consider  these  four  propositions,  namely,  that 
the  Writings  are  the  "  Lord's  writings ;"  that  they  are  the 
"spiritual  sense  of  the  Word ;"  that  they  are  the  "  Advent  of 
the  Lord ;"  and  that  they  are  the  "  Holy  City,  New  Jeru- 
salem." 

First,  "  the  Lord's  writings."  Much  has  been  made  of 
the  following,  found  in  a  photo-lithographic  edition  of  Sweden- 
borg's MSS.,  vol.  viii.  p.  1  :  "  Those  books  are  to  be  enumer- 
ated which  were  written  by  the  Lord  through  vie  (a  Domino 
per  me)  from  the  beginning  to  the  present  day." 
146 


THE  WRITINGS  AND  THE  SPIRITUAL  SENSE.      147 

Every  student  of  Swedenborg's  Latin  knows  that  a  Domino 
per  me  does  not  necessarily  mean  %  the  Lord  through  7ne,  but 
more  likely  from  the  Lord  by  me.  The  latter  meaning  is  cer- 
tainly more  in  accord  with  other  expressions  which  he  uses  in 
regard  to  his  and  the  Lord's  relation  to  his  Writings.  He  no- 
where says  that  he  writes  from  himself  or  from  "  the  devil," 
but  always  from  the  Lord.  IIow  could  a  regenerating  man 
express  himself  differently?  But  even  admitting  that  the 
above  translation  of.  the  phrase  is  the  correct  one,  we  must  in- 
terpx'et  its  meaning  in  the  light  of  Swedenborg's  teachings 
about  man  and  God  and  man's  relation  to  God.  True,  Swe- 
denborg  had  "  internal  inspiration  ;"  but  his  Writings  say  that 
"  inspiration  is  not  dictation,  but  influx."  And  we  all  know 
that  the  Divine  Influx  is  not  influx  of  words  or  of  ideas,  or  of 
principles  even,  but  of  truth,  and  of  truth  as  "  living  light." 
Nothing  but  truth  as  the  "  sjjirit  of  truth"  comes  by  influx. 
Swedenborg's  writings,  therefore,  are  the  Lord's  writings  so  far, 
and  only  so  far,  as  finite  mind  was  capable  of  receiving  the 
spirit  of  truth  and  Divinely,  or  by  correspondence,  formu- 
lating it  into  statements  of  truth.  The  formulation  was  a 
finiting  process ;  it  must,  therefore,  necessarily  take  place  in  a 
finite  recipient  vessel ;  and  unless  the  vessel  were  in  a  perfectly 
passive  state,  it  must  partake  more  or  less  of  the  quality  of  the 
vessel.  Swedenborg's  writings  can  be  the  Lord's  writings, 
therefoi-e,  only  in  the  sense  in  which  the  works  of  an  agent 
acting  according  to  as  perfect  an  understanding  of  his  prin- 
cipal's wishes  as  he  is  capable  of  are  the  principal's  works. 
All  that  we  are  and  all  that  we  have,  and  all  our  ability  to  do, 
come  from  the  Divine  Influx.  A  regenerating  man  is  livingly 
sensible  of  this,  and  he  is  constantly  acknowledging  it.  If  he 
does  good,  it  is  not  he  that  does  it,  but  the  Lord  through  him. 
Thus  Swedenborg  nowhere  takes  any  credit  to  himself  for 
the  wonderful  revelations  he  is  making  to  mankind.  It  is  the 
Lord's  doings.  It  was  the  Lord  that  "  instructed"  him,  and 
"taught"   him,  and   "dictated  to"    him.     He  was   like   the 


148  SWEDENBORO  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

angels  in  this  respect.  They  never  do  any  good  of  them- 
selves ;  it  is  always  the  Lord  acting  in  them  and  through  them 
as  humble  instruments.  This  is  plainly  all  that  Swedenborg 
means  in  what  he  says  about  the  Lord's  relation  to  his  works. 
How  frail  a  basis — the  perfectly  natural  and  spontaneous  ex- 
pressions of  loyalty  of  a  regenerated  man  to  the  Source  of  all 
good — on  which  to  found  the  perfectly  astounding  claim  that 
all  of  Swedenborg's  theological  writings,  including  even  the 
"  Spiritual  Diary,"  are  the  Lord's  writings! 

2.    The  Spiritual  Sense. 

Some  say  "  That  the  Writings  are  the  spiritual  sense  of  the 
Word,"  and  thus  the  "  Word  itself  without  the  literal  sense  ;"• 
and  this  is  just  what  they  necessarily  must  be  if  they  are  the 
"  Lord's  writings." 

What  is  meant,  then,  by  the  spiritual  or  internal  sense  of 
the  Word  ?  All  are  agreed  that  it  is  indeed  the  essential 
Word  of  God ;  yea,  is  the  Lord  Himself.  In  this  we  are  sup- 
ported by  the  following  passages  : 

"  The  internal  sense  is  the  most  essential  WorcV^  "  The  in- 
ternal sense  is  the  Word  Itself."  "  In  single  things  there  is 
an  internal  holi/,  which  is  its  internal  sense,  or  celestial  and 
divine  sense  ;  this  sense  is  the  soul  of  the  Wojcl,  and  is  Truth 
Divine  Itself  proceeding  from  the  Lord,  thus  the  Lord  Him- 
self." "  The  spiritual  sense  lives  in  the  literal  sense,  as  man's 
spirit  in  his  body."  A.  C.  3432,  9349,  5457,  1540. 

Thus  we  are  left  in  no  doubt  in  regard  to  what  the  internal 
sense  of  the  Word  is  in  its  real  or  absolute  nature. 

Again,  in  its  relative  nature,  or  as  it  relates  to  man,  the  in- 
ternal sense  is  doctrine,  or  doctrine  is  the  internal  sense.  "  The 
internal  sense  is  doctrine  itself."  "  The  doctrine  of  charity  and 
fliith  is  the  internal  sense  of  the  Word.  .  .  .  The  internal 
sense  of  the  Word  is  the  very  doctrine  of  love  to  the  Lord 
and  charity  towards  the  neighbor."  "  The  doctrine  which 
ought  to  serve  man  as  a  lami)  is  that  which  is  taught  by  the 


THE  WRITINGS  AND  THE  SPIRITUAL  SENSE.      149 

internal  sense,  and  thus  it  is  the  internal  sense,"  A.  C.  10,400, 
9380,  9t09. 

But  we  are  told  that  "  the  doctrines  taught  by  Swedcnborg 
are  the  internal  sense  of  the  Word."  In  what  sense  a,re  they? 
This  is  the  question.  "  In  the  sense  of  the  genuine  doctrines 
of  the  Churcli^''  as  understood  by  some,  who  seem  to  regard  the 
"  spiritual  sense"  and  such  doctrine  as  identically  one  and  the 
same. 

"  We  see,  therefore,"  says  one,  "  that  the  genuine  doctrines 
of  the  Church,  and  hence  the  doctrines  taught  by  Emanuel 
Swedenborg,  .  .  .  are  tlie  internal  sense  of  the  WorcV  This 
is  equivalent  to  saying  that  the  Writings  of  Swedenborg  are 
the  internal  sense  of  the  Word,  especially  as  "  they  are  the 
Lord's  works,"  "  the  Lord's  writings,"  and  hence  it  is  claimed 
that  they  are  "  the  Word  without  the  external  sense."  Thus, 
"  the  genuine  doctrines  of  the  Church,"  Swedenborg's  writings, 
and  the  internal  sense  of  the  Word  are  identically  the  same. 

3.  Absurd  Conclusions. 

Now  let  us  see  to  what  absurd  conclusions  this  leads.  First, 
it  follows  that  Swedenborg's  writings — including  the  "  Spiritual 
Diary" — are  the  "  most  essential  Woj-d  Itself;"  are  the  "  inter- 
nal holi/"  of  the  Word;  are  the  '' soid  of  the  Word;"  are 
"  Truth  Divine  Itself  Y>voceed'm^  from  the  Lord ;"  are  the  Lord 
Himself;'^  that  they  "  live  in  the  literal  sense,  as  the  soul  in 
the  body." 

Second,  Swedenborg's  writings,  if  they  are  the  internal 
sense,  are  "  doctrine  itself;"  are  "  the  vert/  doctrine  of  love  to 
the  Lord  and  charity  towards  the  neighbor  ;"  are  "  the  doctrine 
that  ought  to  serve  man  as  a  lamp."  And  are  they  such  doc- 
trine? Perhaps  doctrine  has  a  deeper  meaning  than  we  had 
fathomed.  It  certainly  has,  if  we  had  not  regarded  it  as  the 
very  Word  itself  in  "its  spirit  and  life."  Genuine  doctrine, 
in  its  real  essence  as  the  internal  sense  of  the  Word,  is  that 
which  actually  shines  in  heaven  as  light ;  is  that  which  actually 


150  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

illuminates  the  mind ;  is  that,  therefore,  which  instructs  man, 

wliich  instructed  Swedenborg,  but  by  its  illuminating,  not  by 

its  verbal  power.     "  By  genuine  doctrine  of  the  Church,  as  to 

faith   and  as  to  life,  the  internal  sense  is  inscribed  both  on 

man's  understanding  and  on  his  will,  on  his  understanding  by 

faith  and  on  his  will  by  life."  A.  C.  9430,     Do  Swedenborg's 

writings  shine  ?     Can  they  illuminate  the  mind  ?     Do  they  by 

any  process  become  "  inscribed  on  the  understanding  and  on 

the  will"  ? 

4.    Only  Explanations. 

No,  most  conclusively.  Swedenborg's  writings  are  not  the 
Word ;  are  not  the  Lord ;  are  not  the  internal  sense  of  the 
Word;  are  not  genuine  doctrine, — ?*.e.,  are  not  "truths  con- 
tinuous from  the  Lord."  No,  infinitely  far  from  it.  What 
are  they,  then  ?  They  are  just  what  he  claims  them  to  be, 
and  just  what  all  must,  sooner  or  later,  acknowledge  them  to 
be, — namely.  They  are  simply  an  "  explanation  of  the  inter- 
nal sense,"  or,  rather,  an  explanation  of  the  real  nature  of  the 
literal  sense  of  the  Word,  so  as  to  show,  so  far  as  human  lan- 
guage can  show,  somewhat  of  the  real  character  of  its  "  sowZ," 
of  its  "  spirit  and  life"  within.  Swedenborg's  writings  are  not 
to  the  spiritual  sense  even,  as  the  body  to  the  soul  within  the 
body ;  not  even  as  the  cup  to  the  wine  contained  in  the  cup,  or 
as  the  casket  to  the  jewels.  This  is  the  relation  of  Sacred 
Scripture  to  the  spiritual  sense.  Swedenborg's  writings  are 
nothing  more  than  as  verbal  expressions  about  the  soul  in  the 
body,  the  wine  in  the  cup,  or  the  jewels  in  the  casket;  but 
verbal  expressions  of  such  a  character  as  to  give  most  precious 
insight  into  the  real  nature  of  Sacred  Scripture  and  its  inter- 
nal sense.  Swedenborg's  writings  in  no  sense  or.  manner 
measure  out  for  us  the  internal  sense,  or  a  single  ray  of  it. 
They  do  not,  and  they  could  not  describe  even  the  smallest 
portion  of  what  is  contained  in  a  single  sentence  of  Sacred 
Scripture.  "  In  the  internal  sense  are  singulars,  myriads  of 
which  make  one  particular  in   the  literal  sense."  A.  C.  3438. 


THE  WRITINGS  AND  THE  SPIRITUAL  SENSE.     151 

There  are  a  great  many  passages  in  Swedenborg  of  similar 
import.  The  internal  sense  of  the  Word  can,  indeed,  no  more 
be  put  into  human  language  than  the  sunlight  can,  or  than  the 
life  of  the  soul  can.  The  spiritual  sense  is  utterly  ineffable.  It 
can  flow  into  the  mind,  and  it  actually  illuminates  the  regener- 
ated mind,  but  it  cannot  flow  into  words.  Hence  there  is  an 
infinite  difference  between  that  sense  and  any  possible  verbal 
statement  of  it. 

How,  then,  is  it  possible  for  any  one  to  claim  that  Sweden- 
borg's  words  are  the  Lord's  words,  and  thus  that  his  Writings  are 
the  Lord's  writings,  thus  Holy  Writings,  or  Sacred  Scriptures  ? 
And  such  they  certainly  would  be  if  they  were  the  Lord's 
writings ;  they  would  be  Sacred  Scriptures,  and,  as  such,  would 
themselves  have  an  internal  sense,  thus  would  themselves  be 
God,  as  the  Sacred  Scriptures  are,  in  their  "  Spirit  and  Life." 
God  is  Life  ;  and  Life  cannot  act  or  operate  otherwise  than  by 
correspondence  ;  for  all  life — finite  life  even — operates  by  cor- 
respondence ;  that  is  to  say,  operates  in  such  a  way  that,  what- 
ever is  produced  from  it,  is  produced  in  successively  evolved 
degrees,  so  that  every  lower  degree  corresponds,  as  an  effect  to 
a  cause,  to  the  higher,  and,  at  length,  to  the  highest  degree 
whence  it  originated.  God  never  does  anything  by  external, 
arbitrary  act,  as  man  does.  Nothing  can  come  from  God  but 
by  correspondence ;  no  effect  comes  from  the  normal  operation 
of  any  degree  of  life  but  by  correspondence.  Life  in  the 
germ  of  the  egg,  or  of  the  seed  even,  operates  by  correspond- 
ence in  every  phase  and  degree  of  its  operations.  Every- 
thing in  the  tree  and  everything  in  the  flower,  and  then  in  the 
fruit,  corresponds  to  and  is  filled  with  the  life  that  produced  it. 
Such  producing  life  fills,  has  entire  possession  of,  and  thus 
perfectly  controls  and  characterizes,  everything  of  the  mechan- 
ism of  the  tree,  and  also  of  the  flower  and  the  fruit.  This  is 
the  reason  why  everything  in  and  of  these,  corresponds.  Now 
if  the  Lord — the  Lord  as  Life,  for  He  operates  in  no  other 
way — thus  filled,  had  entire  possession  of,  and  thus  portVctly 


152  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

controlled  and  characterized  everything  of  the  mechanism  of 
Swedenborg's  mind,  then  his  fruits,  as  of  a  tree,  his  works,  his 
Writings  are  the  Lord's  Writings,  and  hence  correspond  to  the 
Lord  ;  but  not  otherwise.  The  idea  of  his  Writings  being  the 
Lord's  writings,  and  not  correspondences,  is,  when  we  under- 
stand the  nature  of  God  in  His  operations  as  Life,  a  perfectly 
absurd  idea,  and  is  unworthy  of  the  real  man  of  the  New 
Jerusalem. 

5.    What  Swedenhorg  calls  his  Writings. 

Now  let  us  see  what  Swedenborg  himself  says  about  his 
Writings.  He  nowhere  calls  them  the  Word,  the  Lord,  the 
soul  of  the  Word,  or  doctrines  in  the  sense  of  "  truths  contin- 
uous from  the  Lord  ;"  and  this  is  just  what  the  doctrines — the 
"genuine  doctrines  of  the  Church"  are;  they  are  truths  con- 
tinuous from  the  Lord  ;  and  this  is  just  what  he  says  that  gen- 
uine doctrines  are.  They  are  the  internal  sense  of  the  Word, 
are  Truth  Divine,  are  the  very  living  Light  itself,  flowing  down 
from,  thus  "  continuous  from,  the  Lord  ;"  just  as  genuine  light 
is  light  continuous  from  the  sun ;  just  as  genuine  life  is  life 
continuous  from  the  soul.  The  genuine  doctrine  of  the  New 
Church — that  is,  the  doctrine  of  man  arrived  at  a  state  of 
rational  freedom — is  not  verbal  doctrine,  is  not  an  external, 
authoritative  statement  of  truth, — as  it  was  to  the  Israelite 
and  the  man  of  the  first  Christian  Church, — but  is  doctrine 
that  shines  in  and  illuminates  the  mind.  It  was  no  formulated, 
verbal  instruction,  but  such  doctrine,  or  the  Lord  as  such  doc- 
trine, flowing  "  continuously"  into  the  mind — flowing  in  as 
Divine  spiritual  light — that  taught  Swedenborg,  and  that  is,  in 
like  manner,  to  teach  the  real  man  of  the  New  Church,  as  soon 
as  he  comes  into  a  state  to  be  so  taught.  Swedenborg's  writ- 
ings, are  only  "  verbal  statements,"  only  "  verbal  explanations," 
of  doctrine, — of  the  internal  sense  of  the  Word.  This  is  all 
they  are,  and  all  that  he  claims  that  they  are.  Swedenborg's 
writina;s  are  a  revelation  of  Truth,  of  the  doctrine  of  the  New 


THE   WRITINGS  AND  THE  SPIRITUAL  SENSE.      153 

Churcli,  for  %oiregenerated  men,  for  men,  therefore,  who  could 
not  receive  genuine  doctrine,  or  Divine  Truth  "  coHtimionnJi/'''' 
flowing  into  the  mind  from  the  Lord;  Truth  must  be  finitcd, 
must  be  verbalized,  must  be  broken  up  into  formulated  state- 
ments or  explanations  of  principles.  The  regenerated  man,  on 
the  contrary,  needs  no  such  verbal  statements  of  doctrine ;  he 
has  outgrown  such  a  form  of  revelation,  or  of  "  accommodated 
truth,"  and  this  is  just  what  "  revelation"  is,  it  is  accommo- 
dated, verbalized  truth.  The  regenerated  man  receives  doc- 
trine by  "  internal  inspiration," — that  is,  by  sensible  influx 
continuous  from  the  Lord.  This  is  the  way  Swedenborg  re- 
ceived doctrine,  and  this  is  the  kind  of  doctrine  he  received. 
And  this  is  what  is  meant  by  his  being  "  instructed  by  the 
Lord."  He  was  instructed  by  the  Lord  as  such  doctrine,  as 
such  continuously  inflowing  truth. 

But  Swedenborg  did  not  reveal  such  genuine  doctrine,  such 
continuous  truth,  for  unregenerated  men, — and  regenerated 
men,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  need  it, — he  need  not  reveal  it, 
he  could  not  reveal  it, — could  not  reveal  it  in  any  other  sense 
than  that  of  "  explanations"  about  it.  And  this  is  precisely 
the  way  in  which  he  characterizes  his  great  work,  the  "  Arcana 
Coelestia;"  he  says  (A.  R.  820)  : 

"  That  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  has  been  revealed, 
this  day,  may  be  seen  in  the  '  Arcana  Coelestia,'  where  the  two 
books  of  Moses,  Grenesis  and  Exodus,  have  been  explained 
according  to  that  sense ;  also  in  the  '  Doctrine  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,'  concerning  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  Nos.  5—26  ;  in 
the  little  work  on  '  The  White  Horse,'  from  beginning  to  end, 
and  in  the  passages  collected  there  from  the  Sacred  Scriptures ; 
and,  moreover,  in  the  present  explanations  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, where  not  a  single  verse  can  be  understood  without  the 
spiritual  sense." 

Again  (A.  C.  6597) :  "  That  the  internal  sense  is  such  as  it 
has  been  expounded  (cxpositus),  appears  from  the  particulars 
that  have  been  explained  (explicata)." 


154  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

Again :  in  "  Apocalypse  Revealed,"  "  Every  one  may  see 
that  the  Apocalypse  cannot  be  explained  at  all  except  by 
[from]  the  Lord  alone." 

Again  :  "  This  sense"  [the  celestial,  a  part  of  the  internal 
sense]  "  cannot  be  expounded^  because  it  is  the  celestial  sense 
itself,  not  even  an  idea  of  which  can  be  expressed  in  human 
language."  S.  D.  4671. 

Again :  "  I  can  testify  how  many  things  are  contained  in 
thought  and  speech  when  they  are  spiritual ;  and  that  they  can 
never  be  expressed.''^  Adv.  iv.  p.  66. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  multiply  quotations.  Every  reader  of 
Swedenborg  knows  that  he  nowhere  pretends  to  give  the  in- 
ternal sense  of  the  Word,  or  of  any  part,  phrase,  or  verbal 
expression  of  it,  in  any  other  sense  than  that  of  an  explanation, 
or  verbal  statement  of  its  representative,  significative,  or  sym- 
bolical meaning.  His  great  work  on  the  Apocalypse  is  entitled 
"  Apocalypsis  Explicata,"  which  contains  a  great  deal  more 
than  "  Apocalypsis  Revelata,"  which  last  word  is  evidently  used 
in  the  sense  of  exjylicata.  And  his  great  work  is  the  "Arcana 
Coelestia,"  detacta,  laid  ojjen,  uncovered., — that  is,  laid  open 
by  explanation,  certainly  in  no  other  way.  In  which  work,  as 
in  the  others  on  the  Word,  he  takes  up,  seriatim,  words  and 
phrases  of  Scripture,  and  says  they  represent,  or  they  signify 
so  and  so ;  or  it  is  treated  (rigit,  or  actum  est)  of  such  and 
such  things. 

6.    The   Writings  and  the   Word. 

Swedenborg's  writings,  then, — it  is  plain  as  day, — are  the 
internal  sense  of  the  Word  only  in  the  sense  of  an  explanation 
of  the  internal  sense ;  and  it  is  equally  plain  from  his  own 
teachings  that  this  is  all  that  he  claims  for  them.  Hence  there 
is  an  infinite  difi"erence  between  his  Writings  and  the  Word 
itself,  either  in  its  external  or  in  its  internal  sense ;  all  the 
difference  that  there  is  between  the  light  that  actually  shines 
and  warms  and  illuminates  the  landscape  and  creates  life  and 
beauty,  and  any  verbal  expression,  statement,  or  explanation 


THE  WRITINGS  AND  THE  SPIRITUAL  SENSE.      155 

about  the  light.  The  internal  sense  as  "  the  essential  Word 
of  God,"  as  "  the  Lord  Himself,"  as  the  "  Spirit  of  Truth,"  is 
a  fathomless  fountain.  Swedenborg's  writings  are  not  even  the 
bucket  by  which  to  draw  even  a  single  living  draught.  They 
only  show  us  that  the  Word,  in  its  spirit  and  life,  is  such  a 
fountain,  and  how  and  why  it  is  so ;  and  they  also  show  our 
relation  to  it,  and  how  we  may  come  into  a  state  to  drink  of 
it.  The  internal  sense  is  as  the  radiance  continuously  flowing 
forth  from  the  sun  and  filling  all  space.  Swedenborg's  writings 
are  not  even  the  optical  instrument  wliich  enables  us  to  see  the 
wonders  of  such  radiance.  They  only  explain  to  us  its  nature 
and  what  we  must  do  to  come  into  a  state  to  see  its  glories. 
Swedenborg's  writings  are  not  even  related  to  the  internal 
sense,  are  not  even  its  vessel  or  casket,  as  Sacred  Scripture  is ; 
are  not  even  the  settings  of  the  jewels  within  the  casket ;  they, 
indeed,  bear  no  organic  relation  to  them  whatever,  as  the  Scrip- 
tures do ;  they  do  not  even  unlock  the  casket,  much  less  do 
they  open  it  and  expose  the  jewels  to  our  view  ;  they  only  give 
us  the  key  and  tell  us  how  to  use  it — how  to  apply  it  to  the  lock. 
This  we  can  do,  or  learn  to  do,  by  cold  intellection.  To  turn 
the  key  and  raise  the  cover  is  quite  another  matter.  Sweden- 
borg  did  this,  but  for  himself  alone  ;  he  could  not  do  it  for 
another.  No  man  can  do  it  for  another.  This  requires  the 
application  of  "  eye-salve,"  which  no  one  can  apply  for  another. 
For,  to  really  open  the  casket  and  see  the  jewels,  is  to  have 
your  eyes  opened,  which  is  the  result  of  those  regenerating 
processes  which  one  man  can  only  explain  to  another,  as  Swe- 
denborg  has  to  us,  and  the  nature  and  necessity  of  which  he 
has  so  clearly  shown  in  his  Writings. 

And  this  one  fact — namely,  that  they  are  only  explanations 
— is  enough  to  show  that  Swedenborg's  writings  are  not  "  the 
Lord's  writings."  The  Lord  never  explains,  never  does  so  in 
any  other  way  or  sense  than  through  that  kind  of  responsible 
agency  of  man  which  makes  the  explanation  the  man's  ex- 
planation, though  from  the  Divine  Influx,  thus  from  tlie  Lord, 


15G  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

operating  in  him  and  through  him,  but  in  him  and  through 
him  as  Vi  free  agent  and  one  under  the  free  and  unbiased  ex- 
ercise of  his  own  rationality.  And  this  was  the  case  with 
Swedenborg  in  all  his  Writings.  The  Lord  only  ultimates  or 
finites  truth  down  into  vei'bal  statements  or  expressions,  as  the 
soul,  as  it  were,  finites  itself  down  into  or  out  into  what  we 
call  the  material  body ;  or  as  the  germ-life  of  the  seed  finites 
itself  out  into  woody  fibre  and  bark,  and,  at  length,  leaves, 
blossoms,  and  fruit.  There  is  an  organic  connection  between 
the  soul  and  the  body,  also  between  the  vegetable  soul  and  its 
body,  the  evolved  plant  or  tree.  So  there  is,  by  con-es^jo?ic?ence, 
a  similar  connection  between  the  Lord,  or,  which  is  the  same 
thing,  between  Divine  Truth  and  its  finited  verbal  expression 
— Sacred  Scripture.  Sacred  Scripture,  therefore,  is  the  basis 
and  continent  of  the  Word,  of  Divine  Truth,  as  the  body  is  of 
the  soul,  or  as  the  tree  is  of  its  evolving  life,  or  as  the  channel 
is  of  its  stream.  Swedenborg's  writings  are  no  such  basis  or 
continent ;  as  mere  explanations  they  could  not  be.  And  no 
one  claims  them  to  be,  no  one  pretends  that  they  are,  finited 
or  evolved  from  the  Lord  by  correspondence  ;  and  yet,  as  we 
have  before  shown,  without  correspondence  no  writings  can  be 
"  the  Lord's  writings,"  no  words  the  Lord's  words. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  BOOKS  AND  THE  ADVENT. 

1.  Advent  Written  on  the  Books. 

Another  claim,  and  by  no  means  the  least  remarkable  one, 
is  "  that  the  Lord  effected  His  Second  Coming  once  for  all 
through  Emanuel  Swedenborg;"  that  Swedenborg's  writings 
are,  in  fact,  the  Lord's  Second  Coming  !  It  is  said,  indeed, 
that  "  he  [Swedenborg]  declares  expressly  that  the  BOOKS 
THEMSELVES  constitute  the  Lord's  coming !" 

This  is  perfectly  marvellous.  And  what  is  the  authority 
for  it  ?  Why  this  :  Swedenborg  says  "  in  his  Sketch  of  a  His- 
tory of  the  New  Church"  : 

"  Upon  all  my  books,  in  the  spiritual  world,  was  written 
The  Lord's  Advent  (Adventus  Domini).  The  same  I  also  in- 
scribed, by  command,  on  two  copies  in  Holland." 

Again  :  "  The  Lord's  Second  Advent  takes  place  by  a  man, 
before  whom  He  manifested  Himself  in  person,  and  whom  He 
filled  with  His  Spirit,  so  that  he  might  teach  the  doctrines  of 
the  New  Church."  Now  if  "  this  [Second  Advent]  is  meant 
in  the  Apocalypse  by  the  New  Jerusalem  descending  out  of 
heaven," — and  it  is  claimed  that  it  is  so  "  proved  by  the  super- 
scriptions to  Nos.  779  and  781  in  '  True  Christian  Religion,' 
when  read  in  consecutive  order," — then  the  "  Books  Themselves 
constitute"  the  New  Jerusalem  also  ! 

But  we  ftiil  to  find  in  Swedenborg's  writings  any  "  express 
declaration,"  or  anything  even  akin  to  any  such  declaration, 
that  either  his  books,  his  Writings,  or  any  verbal  statement  of 
doctrine  whatever,  constitutes  either  the  Lord's  Second  Ad- 

167 


158  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

vent  or  the  New  Jerusalem.  "  The  Lord's  advent,"  written 
on  Swedenborg's  books,  no  more  implies — much  less  "  declares" 
— that  those  books  constitute  the  Lord's  Second  Advent  than 
the  phrase  "  AutJiority  in  the  New  Churcli^^  printed  on  the 
back  of  a  book,  implies  that  that  book  is  authority  in  the  New 
Church. 

2.  Advent  a  Perception. 

Let  us  now,  in  the  exercise  of  that  practical  common  sense  and 
reason  which  are  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  the  man  of  this  age, 
and  not  as  trammelled  and  blinded  by  "  authority,"  briefly  con- 
sider, in  the  light  of  what  Swedenborg  says  on  the  subject, 
what  the  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord  is.  We  are  all  agreed 
that,  so  far  as  the  Lord  is  concerned, — whatever  may  have 
been  the  appearances  to  the  contrary, — all  His  comings  to  man 
have  been  as  the  Word :  first,  as  the  Word  as  "  Sjiirit  and 
Life"  or  "  living  truth,"  "  living  light"  (this  was  before  man 
was  contaminated  with  evil)  ;  second,  as  the  Word,  or  Divine 
Truth  finited  into  statements  of  truth,  Sacred  Scriptures ; 
third,  as  the  Word  '■^  made  flesh ;"  fourth,  as  a  revelation  of 
the  internal  sense.  It  is  the  last  Advent — which  is  the  most 
glorious  of  all — which  Swedenborg's  books  are  said  by  some 
to  constitute.  Swedenborg  defines  this  Coming  most  plainly. 
He  shows  that  it  is  a  higher  and  more  interior,  rational  j^er- 
ception  than  any  preceding  coming.  Read  the  following  from 
A.  C.  2513,  in  connection  with  the  remarkable  statement  that 
the  "  Books  Themselves  constitute  the  Lord's  Coming," 
namely : 

"  The  Coming  of  God  signifies  perception  ;  for  percep- 
tion is  nothing  else  than  a  Divine  advent,  or  a  Divine  in- 
flux into  the  intellectual  faculty."  And  this  is  just  what  the 
Coming  of  the  Lord  is,  as  shown  in  very  many  places  in 
Swedenborg's  writings.  And  there  is  reason  in  this.  And, 
in  this  connection,  how  full  of  significance  the  fact,  as  acknowl- 
edged, I  believe,  by  all  Swedenborg's  readers,  that  "  The  Lord 
made  his  Second  Advent  in  Swedenborg's  intellectual  faculty  !" 


THE  BOOKS  AND    THE  ADVENT.  159 

This  was,  indeed,  the  advent  of  the  Lord  to  Swedenborg  as  the 
Spirit  of  Truth.  And  it  was  such  advent  that  gave  Swedcn- 
hoYg  percept  ion,  or,  which  is  the  same,  "internal  inspiration." 
And  as  Swedenborg  was  a  representative  man  of  this  age, — the 
age  of  the  Lord's  Second  Coming, — we  have,  exemplified  tii 
him,  the  great  principle  of  the  Lord's  Second  Coming  to  all 
men.  That  is  to  say,  as  the  Lord  came  to  him  so  lie  comes  to 
all  men.  And  as  were  the  conditions  of  such  coming  in  his 
case,  such  must  be  the  conditions  in  all  eases ;  and  the  condi- 
tiojis,  as  we  have  elsewhere  shown,  were  certain  states  of  mind 
as  to  regeneration.  All  men  are  in  a  state  of  perception,  or  of 
internal  inspiration,  from  Divine  Influx,  according  to  their 
state  as  to  regeneration.  Such  Influx  is  the  conscious  or  per- 
ceptive influx  of  the  internal  sense  of  the  Word,  and  is,  there- 
fore, the  Lord's  Second  Coming ;  for  His  Second  Coming  is  in 
the  perceptive  glory  of  the  very  spirit  and  life  of  the  Word, 
and  is  in  the  form  of  the  Word  as  Spirit  and  Life,  or  as  the 
"  Spirit  of  Truth"  which  He  had  promised  as  His  Second  Ad- 
vent, and  not  in  the  form  of  any  writing  or  any  verbal  state- 
ment of  truth,  much  less  in  the  form  of  the  "  books  themselves" 
containing  such  statements. 

3.    The  BooJi's  only    Treatises  on  the  Advent. 

What  relation  then  do  Swedenborg's  writings  really  bear 
to  the  Second  Coming?  Let  me  answer  in  the  language  of 
another  :  "  Under  the  influence  of  this  perception"  [this  per- 
ceptive coming  of  the  Lord  to  Swedenborg]  "  Swedenborg 
wrote  all  those  books  in  and  by  which  the  Lord  efi'ected  Ilis 
Second  Coming  in  this  world."  I  would  amend  this  by  saying, 
"  all  those  books  which  treat  of  the  doctrines  of  the  New 
Church  and  thus  of  the  Lord's  Second  Coming;"  for  this  is  all 
that  can  rationally  be  made  of  the  superscription — "  the  Lord's 
Advent" — which  was  written  on  "  all  his  books  in  the  spiritual 
world."  That  is  a  very  appropriate  general  title  to  his  books ; 
for  they  all  relate,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  Lord's  Advent. 


160  SWEDENBORO   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

The  title  of  each  treatise,  in  fiict, — the  "Arcana  Coelestia,"  the 
"  Apocalypse  Ilcvealed,"  the  "  Apocalypse  Explained,"  the 
"  True  Christian  llcligion,"  etc., — is  as  the  title  or  subject  of 
different  chapters  of  a  book  under  the  more  general  title  of 
"The  Lord's  Advent." 

The  following  from  a  learned  writer  on  this  subject  is  per- 
fectly marvellous, — namely,  "  That  the  Lord's  Advent,  which 
was  first  made  in  Swedenborg's  intellectual  faculty  and  which 
imparted  to  it  perception,  was  continued  also  into  the  very  hooks 
which  he  wrote,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  '  on  all  his  books 
in  the  spiritual  world  was  written  the  Lord's  Advent,  and  that 
the  same  he  also  inscribed  on  two  copies  in  Holland !" 

Has  there  not  been  some  misprint  in  this  ease?  According 
to  Swedenborg's  own  definition  of  the  Lord's  Second  Advent, 
no  language  could  receive  it  or  even  adequately  describe  it, 
much  less  could  any  books  contain  it  or  hold  it.  For  such 
Advent  is  an  "  influx  into"  and  a  "  perception  by"  the  "  intel- 
lectual faculty."  Can  there  be  any  such  influx  into,  and  per- 
ception by,  books,  or  words,  or  language  of  any  kind  ?  The 
Second  Advent  is  entirely  diff"erent  from  any  previous  coming. 
To  the  Israelites  the  Lord  came,  or  rather  manifested  Himself 
in  human  language,  in  finited  statements  of  truth,  in  what  is 
called — because  it  is  the  Lord's — Holy  Writing, — Sacred  Scrip- 
ture. In  this  case  the  book  or  the  language,  or  the  verbal 
meaning  of  the  book,  was  the  Lord's  coming, — more  correctly, 
was  His  manifestation  as  the  means  of  His  coming.  The 
Israelite  was  not  capable  of  receiving  or  of  understanding  any 
other  kind  of  coming.  It  was,  and  it  necessarily  must  have 
been,  a  revelation  or  manifestation  to  his  EXTERNAL  senses. 
To  the  men  of  the  First  Christian  Church  the  Lord  came,  or 
rather  manifested  Himself,  as  the  means  of  His  coming,  in  a 
finite,  visible  humanity,  as  the  "  Word  made  flesh."  This 
was,  relatively,  an  external  coming.  But  even  this  coming 
could  not  have  been  embodied  in  a  book  or  books.  In  its  real 
nature,  even  His  First  Coming  was  and  is  a  coming  of  truth 


THE  BOOKS  AND   THE  ADVENT.  IGl 

in  the  mind,  of  truth  as  "  light"  to  show  man  his  "  foes,"  and 
as  a  "  sword"  to  drive  them  out.  Even  this  coming  was  not  a 
"  perception,"  nor  does  it  even  now  result  in  perception,  except 
as  the  "  foes"  are  actually  driven  out,  and  man  becomes  a  re- 
generated man,  and  thus  comes  into  a  "  love  of  truth  for 
truth's  sake,"  and  then  the  Second  Advent  takes  place.  But 
the  Lord's  Second  Coming  is  an  actual  perceptive  presence,  a 
real,  internal  manifestation,  a  consciously  illuminating  Influx 
of  the  Lord  as  the  "  Spirit  op  Truth."  Nothing  but  a  re- 
generated mind  can  receive  such  a  inanifestation  of  the  Lord. 
And  to  all  such  minds  the  Lord  does  consciously  manifest 
Himself,  as  abundantly  shown  in  Swedenborg's  writings.  He 
so  manifested  Himself  to  him,  which  is  an  evidence  of  his 
high  state  of  regeneration.  There  can  be  no  proof,  therefore, 
strong  enough  to  show  that  the  Lord's  Advent  ..."  was 
continued  also" — after  being  first  made  in  Swedenborg's  in- 
tellectual faculty — "  into  the  very  books  which  he  wrote  ;"  and 
thus  that  "  the  books  themselves  constitute  the  Lord's  Com- 
ing." Much  less  can  the  title  of  a  treatise,  and  whether  in- 
scribed by  men,  angels,  or  the  Lord,  be  any  evidence  that  the 
treatise  or  book  is  the  thing  itself  about  which  it  is  written, 
and  even  though  it  be  admitted  that  the  Lord  Himself  wrote 
the  book.  Even  if  the  Lord  wrote  Swedenborg's  books,  as 
claimed,  they  could  not  constitute  the  Lord's  Second  Coming, 
according  to  Swedenborg's  own  definition  of  that  coming. 

4.  Man  as  an  Instrument. 

But  what  docs  Swedenborg  mean  by  what  he  says  about  Ids 
own  agency  in  connection  with  the  Lord's  Advent  ?  It  is  very 
plain  what  he  means,  if  we  are  not  so  closely  tied  down  to  the 
letter  as  to  be  blind  as  to  the  real  spirit  of  his  language.  Let 
us  recur  to  the  nature  and  means  of  prior  comings  or  manifes- 
tations of  the  Lord.  These  have  all  been  diff'erent, — diff'erent 
in  their  character  and  diff'erent  in  their  means  or  instruments. 
"  The  Lord  was  able  to  assume  the  human  essence  without 

8* 


1G2  SWEDENBORQ  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

being  born  as  a  man  ;  and  He  was  seen  as  a  man  in  the  most 
ancient  times,  and  more  recently  by  tlie  propliets."  A.  C.  15*73. 
He  appeared  to  Moses  and  otliers  through  the  medium  of  an- 
gels. It  was  through  both  angels  and  men  that  He  came  or 
manifested  Himself  in  the  form  of  Sucred  Scripture.  He 
afterwards  came  by  means  of  a  personal  incarnation.  But  it 
is  important  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  assumed  '^  himian  es- 
sence,^^  in  the  first  case,  the  mediumistic  angels,  in  the  second, 
Sacred  Scripture,  in  the  third,  and  His  Incarnation,  in  the 
fourth,  were  not  what  constituted  His  real  coming ;  but  all 
these  were  for  the  sake  of  His  real  coming,  which  takes  place 
only  in  the  life  of  man,  either  internal  or  external.  It  was  only 
through  obedience  to  instruction  or  influence,  communicated 
as  a  result  of  these  several  manifestations  as  mediums,  that  it 
was  possible  for  the  Lord  to  make  His  coming  a  real  one,  or 
anything  more  than  a  manifestation. 

Swedenborg  doubtless  had  something  like  the  above  in  his 
mind,  especially  the  last, — the  Lord's  being  horn  as  a  man  as 
the  means  of  His  coming, — when  he  spoke  as  he  did  about  his 
own  agency  in  what  is  called  the  Second  Coming.  There 
must  be  in  this,  as  in  every  previous  case,  some  finite  and  ac- 
commodating agency.  And  since  the  Lord  could  not  manifest 
Himself  in  person,  as  previously  shown  by  Swedenborg,  "and 
yet  He  had  foretold  that  He  would  come  and  establish  [condl- 
turum']  a  New  Church,  which  is  the  New  Jerusalem,  it  follows 
that  He  must  do  it  by  means  of  a  man  who  was  able,  not  only 
to  receive  the  doctrines  of  this  Church  with  his  understand- 
ing, but  also  to  publish  them  by  the  press."  There  must  al- 
ways be  the  means,  as  a  precursor,  a  John  the  Baptist,  before 
there  can  be  the  real  thing.  The  Lord  must  first  come  or 
manifest  Himself  as  an  earth,  before  He  can  come  or  manifest 
Himself  in  the  higher  form  of  living  creatures  upon  the  earth. 
The  soul  of  man  must  first  manifest  itself  in  the  form  of  a 
natural  body,  before  it  can  really  come  in  the  higher  form  of 
an  angelic  being.     And  then  such  comings  always  have  been, 


THE  BOOKS  AND    THE  ADVENT.  1G3 

and,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  they  always  must  be, 
gradual  comings.  The  tree  is  a  long  time  in  preparing  the 
bud,  in  preparing  even  the  first  sign  or  manifestation  of  its 
coming,  and  then  even,  after  the  bud  is  formed,  it  is  only  by 
little  and  little,  under  the  influence  of  favoring  conditions,  and 
after  many  progressive  changes,  that  the  tree  really  comes  in 
its  ripened  fruit, — in  an  "  image  and  likeness,"  that  is  to  say, 
of  itself  This  is  so  in  everything.  There  is  no  coming,  of 
whatever  kind,  ox  in  whatever  degree,  Divine  or  natural,  that 
takes  place  "once  for  all,"  as  said  by  another  of  the  Lord's 
Second  Coming  "  through  Emanuel ,  Swedenborg."  If  the 
Lord's  revelation  of  Himself  as  Sacred  Scripture,  or  His  In- 
carnation, and  the  consequent  subjugation  of  the  hells,  had 
not  resulted  in  some  form  of  life,  either  external  or  internal, 
in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  life,  there  would  have  been  no  real 
coming  on  the  earth  in  either  case.  It  is  in  man's  reforming 
and  reo-eneratin"-  life,  as  the  result  of  obedience  in  each  case  to 
the  lessons  of  the  precursory  manifestation  or  revelation,  and 
in  that  alone,  that  the  Lord's  real  comings  take  place.  Sacred 
Scripture  reveals  the  laws  of  external  life.  So  far  as  man 
obeys  these  laws,  as  laws  of  God,  God  comes  to  him,  but 
comes  as  natural  truth.  Swedenborg's  writings  exj^Iain  Sacred 
Scripture,  and  in  doing  so  reveal  the  principles  of  internal., 
spiritual,  and  heavenly  life.  Now,  so  far  as  man  lives  accord- 
ing to  these  principles,  he  becomes  a  regenerated  man,  and  the 
Lord's  coming  is  an  internal,  conscious,  illuminating  Influx  of 
Divine  Truth,  such  as  was  never  experienced  before. 

5.    The  Writings  only  an  Explanation. 

Thus  it  is  plain  what  Swedenborg  means  when  he  says : 
"The  Lord's  Second  Advent  takes  place  by  a  man,"  etc.  We 
see  that  it  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  could  not  take  place  by 
means  like  those  of  any  former  coming.  Such  means  had  done 
their  work,  and  had  done  precisely  the  work  that  was  needful  for 
them  to  do ;  and  at  each  time  there  were  different  means,  be- 


IGi  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

cause  there  was  different  work  to  do ;  and  there  was  diiferent 
work  to  do,  because  humanity  was  in  a  different  state.  More 
Sacred  Scripture^  at  the  time  of  the  Incarnation,  would  have 
been  of  no  use;  and  a  ^erso?ia?  manifestation  would  not  have 
been  adapted  to  the  phase  of  humanity  now  developing.  What 
is  now  needed,  it  is  plain,  is  precisely  the  rational  exposition 
or  revelation  of  truth  made,  by  explanation,  in  Swedenborg's 
writings.  For  the  Lord  to  "  come  in  His  glory,"  is  for  Him 
to  come  pcvceiitively  in  the  internal  man.  And  to  effect  such 
perceptive  coming,  man  needs  to  be  instructed  about  the  inter- 
nal man,  and  about  the  means  of  bringing  it  into  such  a  state 
that  the  Lord  can  come  in  it.  This  is  precisely  what  Swe- 
denborg's writings  are  for  and  what  they  do.  And  thus  we 
may  see,  and  see  plainly,  exactly  what  and  how  much  is  meant 
by  the  Lord's  Second  Advent  "  taking  place,"  or  being 
"  effccted,^^  as  the  Latin  word^a^  is  sometimes  translated,  '•  by 
a  man."  This  Advent  actually  took  place  in  Swedenborg.  It 
was  a  matter  of  personal  experience  with  him.  He  had  the 
perception, — the  internal  inspiration, — which  was  an  evidence 
of — which,  in  fact,  itself  constituted — the  Lord's  Advent  in 
his  mind.  The  actual  perception  constituted  such  coming ;  for 
the  Lord  is  always  actually  present  in  man's  internal  man,  as 
really  and  necessarily  so  as  the  soul  is  in  the  body ;  and  what  is 
called  the  Second  Advent  is  the  conscious  perception — as  a  result 
of  a  change  not  in  the  Lord,  but  in  the  mind  itself — that  He 
is  there,  and  the  consequent  illustration  or  internal  inspiration. 
Now,  what  did  Swedenborg  do  as  the  result  of  such  coming 
in  his  own  mind  ?  Did  he  pour  the  '•  Lord's  Advent"  into  his 
Writings  ?  Did  such  "  conscious  perception  of  the  Lord's 
presence  flow  down  from  his  mind,  through  his  pen,  on  to  the 
paper  under  his  hand  ?  By  what  other  process  could  such  a 
coming  have  been  "  continued  also  into  the  very  books  which 
he  wrote"  ?  W^e  can  conceive  of  the  Lord's  glorifying  the 
instrument  of  His  First  Advent,  but  not  of  His  glorifying  in- 
organic books,  or  words  even.     Will  some  one  please  explain 


THE  BOOKS  AND    THE  ADVENT.  1G5 

tlie  process  by  wliich  sucli  a  marvel  can  take  place,  as  the 
transference — or  "continuance,"  if  he  prefers — of  "percep- 
tion," which  "  is  nothing  else  than  a  Divine  Advent,  or  Divine 
Influx  into  the  intellectual  fiiculty,"  into  hooJcs  ?  No,  no ; 
this  was  not  what  Swedenborg  did.  On  the  contrary,  in  his 
state  of  reception  of  the  Lord  and  thus  of  perception,  he 
simply  gave  those  "  explanations,"  made  those  verbal  rev- 
elations of  Divine  Truths, — made  them  as  far  as  verbal  state- 
ments could  make  them, — by  which,  so  far  as  they  should  be 
heeded  and  obeyed  by  men,  the  Lord  could  efi"ect  His  real  Sec- 
ond Coming  by  joerception  in  thcmj  as-  He  had  done  and  was 
doing  in  Swedenborg. 

Such,  then,  are  Swedenborg's  writings  in  relation  to  the 
Second  Advent :  they  are  that  Advent  only  in  the  very  exter- 
nal sense  of  teachings  about  it,  and  thus  of  means  to  it ;  in 
like  manner  as  the  Incarnation  was  the  First  Advent  only  in 
the  sense  of  a  preparation  for  it  and  as  an  instrument  of  it. 
And  this  is  all  that  Swedenborg  claims  that  his  Writings  are  in 
their  relation  to  the  Second  Advent. 

6.    General  Principles. 

The  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord  is  only  a  certain  specific 
coming.  There  have  been  other  comings.  To  understand  the 
real  nature  of  any  one  coming,  we  need  to  have  some  true  idea  of 
certain  general  principles  relating  to  all  of  the  Lord's  comings. 

And  first  we  need  to  have  some  true  idea  of  God  in  His 
absolute  nature,  or  at  least  in  His  practical  relation  to  us 
as  our  Creator  and  Sustainer, — some  true  idea  of  what  God 
really  is  and  where  He  really  is  in  His  relation  to  us.  When 
we  think  of  Him  as  creating,  or  as  the  Cause,  and  thus  origin 
and  Father  whence  all  being  is,  we  cannot  think  of  Him  other- 
wise than  as  Life,  than  as  everywhere  and  absolutely  present 
— omnipresent — Life,  Life  which  contains  in  it  all  the  pos- 
sibilities of  all  that  is  and  all  that  is  to  be ;  for  it  is  Life  and 
only  life  that  creates, — life  in  the  seed  that  creates  or  evolves  a 


166  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

plant;  life  in  the  egg  that  creates  or  evolves  a  bird,  animal,  or 
man. 

It  is  as  the  Word, — the  Word  as  Spirit  and  Life, — which  is, 
as  it  were,  an  effluence  from  God, — that  God  is  related  to  all 
that  is  ;  like  as  it  is  by  its  radiance  that  the  sun  is  related  to 
the  earth,  or  to  all  that  is  outside  of  itself.  As  elsewhere 
stated,  the  Word  is,  so  to  speak,  God  at  wot'k,  God  in  the  very 
act  and  process  of  creating  or  evolving  from  Himself,  just  as 
the  radiance  is  the  sun  at  work. 

All  that  is,  and  whether  spiritual  or  natural,  is  a  coming  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  this  means  simply  a  maniffistation  of  Him,  and  in  a 
somewhat  similar  sense  to  that  in  which  the  body  and  all  that 
belongs  to  it,  and  all  that  takes  place  through  it  or  by  means  of 
it,  is  a  coming  or  manifestation  of  the  man  within  the  body. 

*  These  comings  of  the  Lord  are  of  two  kinds,  ordinary  and 
extraordinary.  The  ordinary  comings  or  manifestations  are 
creations  or  evolutions  from  the  Divine  into  suns,  earths, 
plants,  animals,  and  men.  The  extraordinary  comings  are  in 
verbal  expressions, — Sacred  Scripture, — the  Incarnation,  and 
at  length  in  explanations  of  these. 

All  these  comings  take  place,  never  from  arhitrary  will  or 
purpose,  but  always,  as  it  were,  spontaneously  and  exactly  ac- 
cording to  conditions,  like  as  the  primordial  germ — whose  in- 
most life  and  being  is  from  the  Divine — is  evolved,  or  "  comes," 
in  the  form  of  a  plant  or  animal  exactly  according  to  conditions. 

All  extraordinary  comings  take  place  through  the  agency  of 
men,  or  of  personal,  finite  humanity.  This  was  the  case  when 
the  Lord  as  the  Word,  that  is  to  say,  as  living  Truth,  was 
clothed  in  human  language,  and  was  thus  finited  or  formulated 
down  into  verbal  truth  ;  and  it  was  the  case  when  the  Word 
was,  for  another  purpose,  or  in  other  conditions  of  humanity, 
'■'•  made  flesh,''  or  was  clothed  with  a  finite,  personal  humanity. 


*  The  rest  of  this  chapter  is  an  extract  from  the  author's  published  lec- 
ture on  this  subject. 


THE  BOOKS  AND   THE  ADVENT  167 

7.    The  Word  unveiled. 

Now,  tliese  extraordinary  comings,  let  us  remember,  have 
been  as  the  Word  clothed  or  veiled,  and  because  of  the  extraor- 
dinary condition  of  mankind.  But  since  about  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  mankind,  it  is  plain  to  the  student  of  his- 
tory, have  been  coming  into  a  different  condition,  and  one  in 
which  a  diiferent  coming  or  manifestation  of  the  Lord  has 
been  taking  place.  This  coming  is,  in  its  real  nature,  an 
opening  or  unveiling  of  the  Word. 

The  first  stejy  of  this  unveiling,  it  is  plain,  on  a  little  reflec- 
tion, must  have  been  in  the  form  of  an  explanation.  For 
mankind  had  lost  all  knowledge  of  the  Word  above  the  mere 
natural  or  literal  meaning.  They  did  not  know  that  Sacred 
Scripture  was  ^the  Word  veiled,  concealed  from  view,  like  the 
sun  above  the  clouds,  and  so  veiled  in  accommodation  to  man's 
state  of  diseased  spiritual  vision.  They  had  lost  the  language 
in  which  it  was  written.  They  were  reading  even  symbol  and 
allegory  as  literal  truth.  The  "  serjjent^'  that  tempted  and  over- 
came the  woman  was  to  them  a  real  animal ;  "  Noah's  flood,'^ 
a  flood  of  material  waters  ;  the  "  whale'  that  swallowed  Jonah, 
a  bona  fide  fish  ;  the  "  devil"  that  took  Christ  upon  a  "  pin- 
nacle of  the  temple,"  and  "  upon  an  exceeding  high  moun- 
tain," a  real  personal  devil,  and  the  like.  But  a  part  of  man- 
kind were  coming  into  a  state  of  rational  manhood  thought, 
and  thus  to  see,  though  dimly  at  first,  that  all  this  and  more 
was  irrational.  And  this  was  the  case  with  the  best  of  men 
then  living.  And  they  "  mourned"  over  their  condition. 
These  were  what  are  called,  in  Matthew,  the  "  tribes  of  the 
earth."  They  had  had  great  reverence  for  their  Scriptures  as 
the  Word  of  God.  But  now,  from  the  very  fact  of  their 
somewhat  advanced,  more  rational  condition,  they  were  losing 
confidence  in  them.  In  fact,  the  Lord,  as  in  the  dim,  early 
dawn,  was  coming  to  them  in  the  form  of  a  clearer  and  more 
rational  perception  of  truth,  even  though  not  of  a  high  order. 


1G8  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

How  plain  it  is  that  what  was  most  especially  needed  in  that 
peculiar  condition  of  mankind  was  an  explanation  of  Sacred 
Scripture  as  being  only  the  "  garment,"  or  only  the  formulated 
statement  of  truth ;  whilst  the  real  Truth  was  veiled  within 
such  garment  or  statement  as  the  sunlight  behind  the  clouds ! 
The  men  of  that  age  were  in  the  darkness  as  of  midnight, 
and  of  a  midnight  without  even  stars  to  mitigate  the  dark- 
ness. And  this  means  that  they  were  destitute  not  only  of 
truth,  but  of  even  a  knowledge  of  truth.  For,  as  the  sun  is  a 
symbol  of  love  and  the  moon  of  truth,  so  the  stars  are  sym- 
bols of  knowledge.  And  not  only  was  the  'sun  "  darkened" 
and  the  moon  had  "  failed  to  give  her  light,"  but  the  stars 
even  "  had  fallen."  And  this  means  that,  in  that  dark,  wicked 
age  of  the  Church,  there  was  not  only  no  love  or  charity,  and 
hence  no  perception  of  truth  among  men,  but  that  there  was 
no  knowledge  even  of  truth  or  of  spiritual  principles. 

8.  Knowledge  First  Needed. 
How  plain,  let  me  repeat,  that  what  was  needed  by  those 
who  were  in  a  state  to  somewhat  realize  their  condition  and 
to  make  an  effort  to  rise  out  it,  was  knowledge  !  For  as  love 
or  charity  is  the  first  thing  to  perish  in  a  degenerating  people, 
and  truth  or  a  perception  of  truth  next  and  as  a  consequence, 
and  a  knowledge  of  truth  last,  so  in  a  regenerating  people,  in 
the  beginning,  a  knowledge  of  truth  is  the  first  thing  needed, 
and  it  is  the  first  thing  also  that  can  he  restored.  Spiritually 
blind  men  can  he  instructed  in  the  way  before  it  is  possible 
for  them  to  see  the  way,  or  whilst  real  truth  would  be  even 
darkness  rather  than  light  to  them.  And  how  beautifully 
significant  the  fiict  that  truth,  or  a  perception  of  truth,  can- 
not exist  without  love,  as  a  sun,  to  shine  down,  as  it  were, 
upon  the  earth  of  the  mind ;  just  as  the  moon,  as  a  luminary, 
cannot  exist  without  the  sun ;  whilst  knowledges  of  truth  may 
be  intellectually  acquired  before  a  man  is  in  a  state  to  per- 
ceive  truth,  and  may  be  acquired  independently  of  that  state ; 


THE  BOOKS  AND    THE  ADVENT.  1G9 

just  as  tlie  stars  can  shine  independently  of  the  hxrger  lumi- 
naries ! 

9.   Kind  of  Knoirhilgc. 

If  knowledge,  then,  was  what  those  people  needed  who,  in 
that  "  midnight  of  the  ages,"  were  "  looking  for  the  morning," 
the  question  is,  what  kind  of  knowledge  ?  Avhat  kind,  that 
men  had  not  already  received  and  perverted?  what  kind,  I 
mean,  did  the  then  coming.,  rationally  thinking  man  need? 
We  know  something  of  his  genius  and  character.  I  am 
speaking  of  the  religious  man,  and  religious,  not  in  any  limited 
ecclesiastical  sense.  I  am  speaking  of  the  man  who  wants  to 
understand  himself,  and  understand  his  relation  to  others  and 
to  his  God,  or  the  great  Father  and  sustainer  of  his  being.  I 
am  speaking  of  the  man  who  has  a  sort  of  vague  intuition 
that  human  beings  do  not  belong  to  time  and  space  alone,  but 
that  they  live  right  on  and  forever,  after  leaving  this  world ; 
of  the  man  who  has  great  reverence  for  the  Bible, — perhaps 
a  more  or  less  superstitious  regard  for  it, — as  containing,  with 
much  valuable  instruction  and  some  evidences  of  its  Divine 
origin,  more  that  is  mystical  and  incomprehensible,  and  also 
some,  as  interpreted  ex  cathedra,  that  is  most  repulsive  to  his 
reason.  In  a  word,  I  am  speaking  of  the  rationally  thinking- 
man  who  is  seeking  for  truth,  and  not  scientific  truth  alone, 
but  spiritual  truth  as  well.  What  kind  of  knowledge  above 
all  other  kinds  docs  such  a  man  want  and  need  ?  Is  it  not 
plain  that  it  is  the  scientific  and  rational  opening  of  that  casket 
which  has  been  so  long  held  and  valued,  but  valued,  not  as  a 
casket,  but  as  itself  constituting  a  most  precious  treasure,  and 
without  knowing  anything  of  the  priceless  jewels  within, — with- 
out, perhaps,  even  suspecting  that  such  jewels  were  there? 
Is  it  not  plain  that  an  explanation  of  the  Bible,  an  explanation 
of  it  from  a  knowledge  of  the  language  in  which  it  was 
written,  would  give  the  kind  of  knowledge  which  humanity 
was  then,  by  little  and  little,  coming  into  a  state  to  understand 
and  be  benefited  by  ? 


170  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

10.    The  Man  Needed  as  an  Instrument. 

Now  is  it  not  plain  that  such  explanation,  such  opening  or 
unveiling  of  the  Word,  was,  so  far,  a  new  coming  of  the  Lord, 
but  coming  or  manifestation,  like  all  the  preceding  comings,  as 
the  Word?  And  is  it  not  plain  that  such  coming,  or  the 
coming  in  that  limited,  external  sense  as  an  explanation  of 
the  Word,  must  take  place  through  the  instrumentality  of  a 
7?ia?i,  as  had  been  the  case  with  all  the  preceding  ones  ? 

Bat  who  in  that  dark  age  could  make  that  explanation? 
Certainly  no  other  than  he  who  had  experienced  that  coming 
in  his  own  person ;  certainly  no  other  than  he  who  had  ac- 
quired the  requisite  knowledge,  and  was,  at  the  same  time, 
recipient  of  the  light.  And  such,  in  that  age,  would  be  a 
most  exti-aordinary  man.  Well,  every  new  and  great  develop- 
ment in  human  affairs  has  been  inaugurated  by  some  extraor- 
dinary man,  by  some  one  far  in  advance  of  his  age.  And  so 
it  was  in  this  case. 

11.   Style  of  Sacred  Scripture. 

To  explain  the  Word,  it  was  necessary,  first,  to  understand 
the  principles  according  to  which  it  was  written.  And  what 
were  these  principles?  The  Word  as  Sacred  Scripture  was 
written  in  a  Divine  style.  It  was  the  Divine  thought,  rather, 
the  Divine  Truth,  Divine  Light  evolved.  Sacred  Scripture  is 
the  lowest  verbal  form  of  the  Word,  just  as  nature  is  the 
lowest  material  form.  There  must,  therefore,  be  a  like  rela- 
tion existing  between  Sacred  Scripture  and  the  Word,  as  be- 
tween nature  and  the  Word.  And  to  understand  the  former 
relation  we  need  to  understand  the  latter.  The  relation  be- 
tween nature  and  the  Word  is  that  of  cause  and  effect.  Hence 
there  is  a  correspondence  of  nature  to  the  Word, — or  to  the 
Lord  as  the  Word, — as  of  an  effect  to  its  cause.  Sacred 
Scripture,  being  virtually  written  by  the  Lord,  was  written 
according  to  .the  principles  of  such  correspondence.     It  could 


THE  BOOKS  AND    THE  ADVENT.  171 

not  have  been  otherwise.  For  the  Word  must  descend  into 
ultimates, — and  whether  in  the  form  of  verbal  teachings  or 
material  objects, — according  to  its  own  laws  or  the  principles 
of  its  own  nature,  just  as  is  the  case  with  the  potential  germ 
of  the  seed  in  becoming  a  developed  plant  or  tree. 

12.   Science  of  Correspondences. 

Men  once  were  in  intuitive  perception  of  these  principles ; 
they  intuitively  saw  the  relation  of  natural  things  as  effects  to 
spiritual  principles'  as  causes.  And  though,  by  degeneration, 
they,  at  length,  became  incapable  of  such  perception,  they  still 
for  a  long  time  retained  a  knowledge  of  such  relation,  under 
the  form  of  what  was  called  the  "  Science  of  Correspond- 
ences;"  but  which  Science,  as  mankind  became  more  corrupt, 
was  at  length  lost ;  and  the  world  has  been  ignorant  of  it  ever 
since,  and,  as  a  consequence,  ignorant  of  the  true  interpreta- 
tion of  Sacred  Scripture.  Now,  therefore,  to  be  able  to  ex- 
plain truly  Sacred  Scripture,  a  knowledge  of  this  "  lost 
Science"  vras  indispensable.  Who  could  acquire  such  knowl- 
edge? Who  but  he  whose  natural  tastes  would  lead  him  to 
an  investigation  of  the  laws  of  God  in  nature  ?  Who  but  the 
devout  scientist  and  philosopher  ?  And  he  even  could  "  know 
only  in  part."  He  even,  however  learned  in  all  that  belongs 
to  nature,  could  see  only  the  material  body,  as  it  were,  of  those 
grand  principles  of  correspondence,  which,  like  ^Jacob's  ladder, 
rest  on  the  earth,  but  whose  upper  part  is  lost  in  the  clouds. 
To  see  the  "  angels  ascending  and  descending,"  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  the  vision  opened  so  as  to  see  the  upper  part. 
To  see  the  soul  in  the  body  and  thus  the  relation  of  the  two  to 
each  other,  it  was  necessary  to  have  the  spiritual,  as  well  as 
the  scientific  and  philosophical  vision  quickened.  And  this 
implies  a  high  state  of  regeneration.  There  is  no  other  law 
by  which  a  man  can  come  into  a  state  of  spiritual  illumina- 
tion, and  thus  of  "  internal  inspiration"  or  "  revelation  from 
perception,"  than  by  regeneration.     It  is  only  when  a  man 


172  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

has  arrived  at  that  high  state  that  he  can  see  both  ends  of  the 
hidder,  both  ends — the  soul  and  the  body — of  those  grand 
principles  of  correspondence  by  which  the  Word  was  written ; 
so  that  the  thoughts,  Hke  the  angels  on  the  ladder,  could  as- 
cend and  descend  and  thus  explore  the  causes  as  well  as  their 
effects.  It  is  only  as  a  man  is  in  the  very  light  itself  of  the 
Word  as  "  living  truth,"  that  he  can  really  understand  and  ex- 
plain the  Word  in  its  form  of  verbal  truth  or  Sacred  Scripture. 
And  to  be  in  such  light,  is  virtually  to  be  "  instructed  by  the 
Lord,"  is,  in  fact,  to  have  the  Lord  practically  dwelling  in  you 
as  the  very  life  of  your  life  and  light  of  your  light. 

13.    The  Expounder. 

It  was  such  a  man,  a  man  thus  qualified,  thus  highly  re- 
generated, that  was  required  to  "  open  the  Word,"  and  to  do 
so  by  rediscovering  and  restoring  the  long  lost  key  to  its  in- 
terpretation. Swedenborg,  as  we  have  seen,  rose  to  that  high 
state. 

He  had  a  thirst,  a  taste,  and  a  capacity  for  those  very 
kinds  of  knowledge  without  which  he  would  have  lacked  the 
basis  on  which  the  science  of  correspondences  rests.  He  was 
equally  a  searcher  for  the  laws  of  God  in  Sacred  Scripture  as 
in  nature.  And  he  was  not  only  a  searcher  but  a  doer.  It 
was  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  doer  that  he  was  indebted  for 
his  high  state  of  regeneration  and  consequent  illumination, 
without  which  he  would  have  been  like  other  scientific  men, 
in  the  light,  not  of  causes,  but  of  effects  only.  In  mere 
scientific  light  he  never  could  have  discovered  the  relation  of 
natural  effects,  or  the  things  of  nature,  to  spiritual  causes,  and 
he  never  could  have  received  the  spiritual  light,  the  instruction 
or  illumination  from  the  Lord, — from  the  Lord  as  the  Word, — 
while  he  was  reading  its  letter,  to  enable  him  to  understand 
and  explain  that  relation.  He  must  not  only  have  the  facts 
in  nature,  but  the  light  to  shine  on  them,  before  he  could  see 
their  spiritual  significance.     And  though  regeneration  would 


THE  BOOKS  AND    THE  ADVENT.  173 

have  given  liim  tlie  light,  yet  without  the  scientific  facts,  with- 
out a  knoAvledgc  of  the  natural  principles,  the  light  would 
have  been  like  that  of  the  sun  on  deserts  of  rocks  and  sands. 
The  angels  could  not  aid  him,  for,  though  regenerated  men, 
and  therefore  in  the  very  light  itself  of  the  Word,  they  were 
without  the  ultimate  principles.  The  Lord  only  could  in- 
struct him,  but  the  Lord,  let  it  be  distinctly  understood,  as  the 
Word^  thus  as  the  influx  of  living,  Divine  light.  Swedenborg 
had  laid  up  in  the  grand  store-house  of  his  own  memory,  as 
the  result  of  his  own  vast  labor  and  experiences,  all  the  knowl- 
edges requisite,  when  illuminated  by  the  Word  as  spirit  and 
life,  to  enable  him  to  fulfil  his  mission  as  expounder  of  the 
internal  sense  of  Sacred  Scripture.  It  is  plain  that  he  needed, 
and  could  receive,  aid  from  no  other  source  than  the  Lord 
alone,  but  the  Lord  as  the  all-illuminating,  living  Truth  itself 
He  stood  alone,  therefore,  with  the  Lord,  as  His  chosen  servant 
for  a  certain  mission,  just  as  the  angels  do,  just  as  all  regen- 
erated men  do,  and  each  as  the  Lord's  chosen  servant  for  a 
specific  work.  He  wrote  as  the  Lord  dictated  to  him,  but 
dictated,  not  in  words,  not  in  formulated  principles,  but  in 
"revelation  from  perception."  The  Lord  gave  him  simply 
illuminating  Truth  ;  he  by  his  own  rational  faculties,  as  thus 
illuminated,  finited  that  truth,  as  it  were,  into  verbal  expres- 
sions, into  specific  doctrines  or  teachings,  according  to  his  own 
wonderfully  developed  understanding.  It  is  plain  that  the 
influx  from  the  Divine  into  his  mind  must  have  been  most 
powerful,  but  thus  powerful,  because  his  mind  had  become  so 
open  and  receptive,  and  because  his  regenerated  will  had  be- 
come so  perfectly  subordinate  to  the  Divine  will, — as  is  the 
case  with  all  regenerated  men  and  angels ;  and  it  is  plain 
that  his  rational  faculties  must  have  been  correspondingly 
quickened  and  strengthened ;  so  that  he  wrote  in  no  sense 
or  manner  whatever,  as  a  passive  instrument  or  tool  in  the 
hands  of  the  Lord.  And  let  me  repeat  here,  and  with,  if 
possible,    greater    emphasis,    what     has    been    said    before. 


174  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

Swedenborg  was  never  more  himself,  and  never  was  what  he 
wrote  more  his  own,  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  so  purely 
the  Lord's,  than  when  thus  so  completely  the  Lord's  servant. 
His  faculties  were  never  in  so  intense  activity,  and  he  was 
never  so  completely  in  possession  of  them  as  his  own,  as 
when  receiving  most  purely  and  powerfully  the  Divine  influx ; 
and  the  measure  of  his  manhood  was  never  so  great,  and  never 
so  distinctively  his  own.  For  it  must  be  always  true,  that  the 
more  of  the  Lord  there  is  in  a  man,  the  more  fully  and  per- 
fectly he  is  a  man,  and  is  himself. 

14.    What  Makes  Man  Man. 

It  is  the  Divine  that  malces  man  man;  for  the  Divine' is 
itself  man  in  his  highest  essence  and  cause.  The  more  purely 
and  fully,  and  thus  powerfully  present  the  Divine  is  in  man, 
therefore,  the  more  fully  and  perfectly  he  is  a  man.  Man  is, 
therefore,  no  true  servant  of  the  Lord,  but  in  proportion  as  he 
is  fully  and  intensely  a  man  ;  and  this  means,  but  in  proportion 
as  he  acts  in  freedom  and  according  to  his  own,  not  another's, 
not  the  Lord's,  rationality. 

15.  Ills  oivn  Writings. 

Swedenborg's  writings,  then,  are  his  own  writings,  and  in 
the  fullest  conceivable  sense  of  the  phrase  his  own.  They  are 
so  fully  his  own,  because  he  was  so  completely  a  servant  of  the 
Lord.  If  they  are  not  his  own,  then  he  was  nothing  but  an 
instrument ;  he  was  not  a  servant.  My  pen  is  only  an  instru- 
ment of  my  thoughts,  not  their  servant.  There  is  an  infinite 
difference  between  an  instrument  and  a  servant.  What  Sweden- 
borg received  from  the  Lord  was  Divine,  was  the  Lord  Him- 
self as  the  Word,  as  the  living  truth ;  but  the  formulation  of 
that  truth  into  finite  principles,  and  the  expression  of  those 
principles  in  language,  was  purely  the  work  of  the  freest  and 
intcnsest  action  of  his  own  rational  Acuities ;  the  Lord  had 
nothing  to  do  with  such  formulation  and  expression,  further 


THE  BOOKS  AND   THE  ADVENT.  1*75 

than  to  fill  him  as  a  man, — just  as  He  fills  all  men,  each  ex- 
actly according  to  his  measure, — and  to  thus  give  him  power 
to  act  as  a  man.  It  is  because  Swedcnborg  was  in  a  condition 
to  act  so  completely  from  the  Lord,  that  what  he  did  was  so 
completely  his  own.  For  regeneration,  thus  a  more  pure  and 
more  perfect  reception  of  the  Divine,  does  not  make  a  man 
less,  but  more  himself,  more  a  man  in  the  image  and  likeness 
of  God,  and  thus  more  perfectly  a  servant  of  God.  And 
herein  lies  the  wonderful  adaptation  of  these  Writings  to 
the  man  of  this  new  age;  it  is  in  the  fact  that  they  are  the 
Writings  of  a  man,  a  man  of  the  age,  a  man  so  completely  a 
man,  and  thus  so  perfectly  a  servant  of  the  Lord. 

Such  was  the  man,  and  such  are  the  Writings  of  the  man  ; 
what  is  their  relation  to  that  extraordinary  advent  or  manifes- 
tation of  the  Lord  which  is  now  taking  place  ? 

Such  advent  actually  took  place  in  Swedenborg.  The  Lord 
came  in  great  power  and  glory  to  him, — rather  in  him, — but 
the  great  power  and  glory  of  Himself  as  the  Word,  thus  of 
Himself  as  the  living  Truth,  living  Light.  He  so  came  or  so 
manifested  Himself,  because  Swedenborg's  mind  was  in  such  a 
condition  that  He  could  so  come.  And  as  He  came  to  Sweden- 
borg, precisely  so  has  He  since  been  coming,  and  is  He  going 
to  continue  to  come,  to  all  men,  but  to  each  in  power  and  glory 
according  to  his  condition  and  measure.  We  may  regard 
Swedenborg  as  van-courier  and  exemplar  of  His  coming,  as  in 
a  sense  inaugurating  and  visibly  ushering  in  the  new  age. 
We  may  regard  him  as  actually  receiving  the  Lord,  the  Lord 
as  the  Word  and  as  the  Word  in  its  "  spirit  and  life,"  as,  in- 
deed, the  "  Spirit  of  Truth,"  into  his  own  mind,  and  then,  by 
his  writings,  preparing  the  way,  or  showing  the  way,  by  which 
others  could  receive  Him.  He  did  this  hy  his  writings.  Thus, 
in  a  certain  external  sense  his  writings  are  the  Advent  of  the 
Lord  ;  they  are  so,  in  so  far  as  they  open  or  unveil  Him  as 
the  Word  to  our  understanding, — in  so  far  as  they  show  by 
explanation  the  internal  sense  of  the  Word,  or  its  real  nature 


176  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

as  spirit  and  life,  or  as  the  Lord  Himself.  In  this  showing  we 
intellectually  see  a  higher  manifestation,  a  more  interior  coming 
of  the  Lord  than  man  ever  saw  before.  But  it  is  plain  that 
no  human  language,  no  verbal  statement  or  explanation  about 
the  Lord,  can  bring  Him  to  us  in  His  "  great  power  and 
glory."  This,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  must  be  an 
internal,  personal  experience,  and  of  each  individual,  and  only 
as  he  puts  away  his  sins  and  thus  renders  his  mind  consciously 
receptive  of  the  Lord;  and  in  His  coming,  not  "with  observa- 
tion," not  with  any  outward  show,  but  as  the  very  "  Spirit  of 
Truth."  For  this,  namely,  the  "  Spirit  of  Truth,"  was  to 
be,  according  to  His  promise,  that  "  other  Comforter,"  that 
next  coming  or  manifestation  of  the  Lord. 

16.    Why  and  When  the  Lord  Comes. 

If  now  we  understand  the  real  nature  of  the  Lord  as  the 
very  living  Word  itself,  that  is  to  say,  as  the  very  "  Spirit  of 
Truth"  itself,  in  His  Second  Coming,  if  we  also  understand 
the  relation  of  man,  and  especially  of  the  one  man,  Sweden- 
borg,  to  that  coming,  we  are  prepared  to  see  and  see  clearly 
why  He  did  not  come  before,  and  why  He  came  so  soon.  For 
all  of  the  Lord's  comings,  as  we  have  seen,  have  been  simply 
manifestations  of  Himself,  and  have  been  owing,  not  at  all  to 
any  change  in  Him, — any  change  in  what  He  was  or  did, — 
but  entirely  to  change  in  recipient  humanity.  The  state  of 
humanity  has  always  been  the  occasion,  and  also  the  measure 
of  His  comings. 

17.  Humanity  in  the  Middle  of  the  Last  Century. 

Humanity  was  in  a  terrible  condition  about  the  middle  of 
the  last  century, — especially  the  ecclesiastical  part  of  it.  It 
was  the  midnight  of  the  church.  Why  a  midnight?  why  is 
there  a  midnight  of  the  day  ?  is  it  because  the  sun  has  turned 
from  the  earth,  or  the  earth  from  the  sun  ?  And  why  does 
not  the  mornitiG;  come  sooner?  is  it  because  the  sun  tarries? 


THE  BOOKS  AND    THE  ADVENT.  177 

is  it  not  rather  because  the  liemispliere  lingers  in  its  own 
shadow  ?  And  does  the  Lord  turn  away  from  mankind  ? 
Never  !  How  could  He  do  it  ?  He  is  to  the  world  of  mind 
what  the  sun  is  to  the  world  of  matter.  And  can  the  sun 
turn  itself  away  from  earth  ?  Can  it  even  hide  itself  from 
earth  ?  can  it  withhold,  for  an  instant,  anything  it  has  to  give  ? 
is  it  not,  on  the  contrary,  from  its  very  nature,  eternally  shining 
and  in  the  fulness  of  its  glory?  It  is  man  that  turns  him- 
self from  the  Lord.  But  for  mind  or  spirit  to  turn,  is  for 
state  to  change.  For  Grod  is  not  in  space  tvifhont  you,  but  is 
within  you.  And  you  turn  from  Him, -when  you  pervert  the 
good  and  truth  which  you  receive  from  Him,  that  is  to  say, 
when  you  live  a  selfish  and  evil  life.  While  you  are  living 
this  kind  of  life,  you  are  like  the  earth  at  night  turned  from 
the  sun.  The  appearance  is,  that  the  Lord  has  left  i/ou  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  j/ow  have  left  Him.  Do  you  not  see,  then, 
why  the  Lord  delays  His  coming  to  you  ?  Do  you  not  see  that 
your  own  state  makes  it  impossible  for  Him  to  come?  Do 
you  not  see  that  He  can  never  come  but  as  you  change,  but  as 
you  cease  to  do  evil  and  learn  to  do  good ;  precisely  as  the 
sun  cannot  come  to  earth,  but  as  the  earth  changes,  but  as  it 
turns  itself  round  to  the  sun.  How  plain,  then,  the  reason 
why  the  Lord  did  not  come  sooner !  Man  was  perverting  and 
profaning  the  Word  as  formulated,  verbal  truth  :  how  could  he 
receive  Him,  then,  as  the  "  Spirit  of  Truth  ?"  The  wonder  is, 
when  we  come  to  understand  the  real  nature  of  the  case,  not 
why  the  Lord  did  not  come  sooner,  but  why  He  came  so  soon, 
— why  He  came  or  could  come,  at  all,  in  that  dark  age. 

18.    Why  the  Lord  Came  When  He  Did. 

Why,  then,  did  the  Lord  come  so  soon  ?  Because  it  was 
the  "  fulness  of  time,"  that  is,  of  state ;  because  there  was  a 
crisis  in  the  condition  of  humanity,  and  a  consequent  change. 
Every  disease  has  its  crisis.  And  this  was  the  condition  of 
humanity, — it  was  diseased.     And  the  disease  had  come  to  its 

9 


178  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

crisis  or  consummation  ;  it  had  spent  its  force,  had  done  its 
worst.  "  Prodigal"  humanity  had  gone  to  its  extremest  en- 
durance, even  to  filling  itself  "  with  the  husks  that  the  swine 
did  eat."  The  disease  must  now  prove  fatal,  unless  its  terrible 
severity  should  bring  into  action  some  rallying  energies  which 
had,  as  it  were,  been  lying  dormant.  "  And  at  midnight  there 
was  a  cry  made :  Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh,  go  ye  out 
to  meet  him."  It  was  midnight ;  like  the  sun  at  that  crisis  of 
the  night,  the  Lord  was  farthest  away ;  humanity  was  in  the 
blackest  state  of  spiritual  darkness ;  its  evil  lusts,  like  the  task- 
masters of  Egypt,  had  become  very  exacting,  and  very  oppres- 
sive in  their  burdens.  But  all  men  were  not  alike.  The  very 
extremes  of  suffering  had,  in  some  cases,  brought  out  and 
brought  into  action  redeeming  qualities.  Tliey  had  lamps, 
and  also  had  some  oil  in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps.  They 
were  "  looking  for  the  morning."  There  was  in  them  the 
"  tender  branch  of  the  fig-tree  putting  forth  leaves,"  sweet 
tokens  of  coming  summer.  All  in  that  wicked  age  were  not 
huried  in  the  darkness  of  the  dark  valley ;  some  were  groping 
for  the  acclivity  of  the  mountain,  where  they  could  hegin  to 
climb  up  towards  the  bright  sunshine  at  the  top.  Such  per- 
sons were  in  a  state  to  see  their  sad  condition  and  mourn  over 
it.  They  saw  their  destitution  ;  they  were  conscious  that  their 
riotous  living  had  brought  them  into  that  state ;  they  knew 
they  were  feeding  on  husks,  and  yearned  for  better,  spiritual 
food.  They  longed  for  the  day,  and  were  in  effort  to  put 
away  their  sins,  that  the  day  might  come.  They  reverenced 
and  obeyed  the  Word  as  natural,  or  verbal  truth,  and  were 
thus  coming  into  a  state  to  see  and  love  the  Word  as  the 
Spirit  of  Truth.  And,  so  far,  this  was  a  second  coming  of  the 
Lord  to  them.  These  and  such  persons  were,  as  it  were,  on 
the  mountain-tops  of  humanity,  to  receive  first  the  tokens  of 
coming  day.  The  Lord  came  to  them,  though  in  the  dim 
distance,  because  He  could  come,  or  rather  came  so  soon,  be- 
cause they  were  in  a  state  to  receive  Him  ;  just  as  the  sun 


THE  BOOKS  AND   THE  ADVENT.  I79 

comes  so  soon  or  comes  first  to  the  natural  mountain-tops  be- 
cause they  can  first  receive  him.  The  Lord  could  not  help 
coming  in  that  midnight  of"  universal  humanity,  any  more  than 
the  sun  can  help  ascending  towards  the  morning  when  it  has 
passed  the  nadir ;  any  more  than  the  ripened  bud  can  help 
opening  into  a  leaf  or  flower  when  it  feels  the  warmth  of  spring. 
The  Lord  would  have  come  centuries  sooner  as  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  as  the  Word  unveiled,  instead  of  as  the  Word  veiled, 
if  humanity  had  only  furnished  the  conditions  which  alone 
could  have  rendered  it  possible  for  II  im  to  so  come. 

19.  Residts  of  Second  Advent. 

But  the  results  of  this  Second  Coming,  this  coming  as  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  as  living  light  in  the  mind, — what  are  they? 
We  can  measure  them  best  by  contrast.  The  Lord's  prior 
comings, — comings  as  the  living  truth  formulated  into  verbal 
truth,  or  Sacred  Scripture, — were  followed  by  comparatively 
external  results,  a  change  in  the  object  and  external  forms  of 
worship,  and,  to  some  extent,  a  change  in  external  life.  His 
coming  as  the  Word  "  made  flcsli,^''  released  man  from  bond- 
age, so  that  he  could  return  to  obedience  to  the  commandments 
as  laws  of  life.  This  coming  also  told  him  that  his  real  foes 
were  not  without,  were  not  other  nations  and  other  people, 
but  within  his  own  being,  the  household  of  his  own  mind. 
The  coming  noiv  taking  place  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  as  the 
living  light  actually  flowing  into  the  mind  and  illuminating  it, 
is  to  him  as  the  restoration  of  sight  to  the  blind ;  it  enables 
him  to  see  what  was  before  only  described  to  him  in  words. 
And  this  is  a  wonderful  difference ;  it  is  as  the  difference  be- 
tween brightly  shining  light  revealing  to  your  eye  the  whole 
landscape,  in  all  the  symmetry  and  beauty  of  form  and  color, 
and  having  that  landscape  described  to  you ;  it  is  really  the 
difference  between  a  mind  actually  illuminated  from  within, 
and  a  mind  only  verbally  instructed  from  without.  The  Spirit 
of  Truth,  the  Word  unveiled,  comes  into  the  mind  through  an 


ISO  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

"  inner  door,"  and  as  living  light ;  this  is  the  door  at  which  Christ 
as  the  Word  stands  and  knocks ;  and  for  us  to  open  which  is 
to  put  away  our  sins,  and  thus  remove  the  darkness  which 
prevents  His  coming  in  unto  us.  The  Word  as  Sacred  Scrip- 
ture comes  to  us  through  an  outer  door,  but  not  as  light,  but 
as  verbal  precepts  about  light  and  about  life.  A  man  with 
the  Word  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth  shining  in  his  mind,  is  in 
intuitive  perception,  thus  in  "  internal  inspiration."  And  the 
results  of  such  perception  are  marvellous.  We  see  them,  at 
the  present  time,  or  in  the  present  phase  of  developing 
humanity,  in  every  department  of  human  thought.  It  is  this 
that  makes  this  age  different  from  all  other  ages.  Sweden- 
borg,  as  shown  by  his  life  and  his  works,  was  a  most  wonder- 
ful exemplar  of  this  kind  of  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Of  course,  the  Lord  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  or  living  light 
itself,  manifests  Himself  differently  in  different  degrees  of  the 
mind,  or  in  the  different  states  or  stages  of  regeneration,  and 
in  different  kinds  and  forms  of  mind.  Results  of  such  influx 
of  light  are  as  varied  as  the  minds  themselves  are  which  are 
recipients  of  the  light ;  and  such  variety  is  infinite.  It  is  just 
as  it  is  in  nature.  The  sunlight  flowing  into  one  plant,  into 
one  flower,  leaf  or  bud,  manifests  itself  differently  from  what 
it  does  while  flowing  into  another.  And  so  it  is  also  in  the 
different  stages  of  forming  and  ripening  fruit.  There  is  such 
infinite  variety  in  nature,  not  because  there  is  any  difference 
in  the  inflowing  life,  but  entirely  because  of  the  difference 
of  recipiency  of  such  life.  Just  so  it  is  in  mind  or  spirit. 
The  manifested  results  of  the  Lord's  coming  must  necessarily 
always  be  according  to  the  tastes,  and  capacities,  and  char- 
acter, and  occupation  of  the  man.  They  must  be  of  one  kind 
with  the  inventor ;  of  another  with  the  scientist ;  of  another 
with  the  artist ;  of  another  with  the  novelist,  the  poet,  the 
statesman,  the  theologian,  and  so  on.  It  is  from  the  light 
flowing  into  the  mind  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  that  we  have  in 
this  age  such  wonder%l  developments  in  machinery,  in  litera- 


THE  BOOKS  AND    THE  ADVENT.  181 

ture,  in  science  and  philosophy,  in  all  the  fine  arts,  as  well  as 
in  religion, — in  all  the  appliances  and  conditions  and  circum- 
stances of  human  life,  in  fact.  The  sewing-machine,  the  rail- 
road, the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  the  steam-engine,  and  the 
rest,  with  all  their  wonderful  mechanisms  and  capabilities, 
could  not  possibly  have  been  the  result  of  any  other  coming  of 
the  Lord  than  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth.  This  kind  of  coming 
warms  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind  into  life  and  energy.  It 
quickens  and  sharpens  and  intensifies  the  perceptions.  It  is 
as  the  summer's  sun  to  the  fields  and  meadows ;  it  changes 
what  was  before  cold,  dead  and  barren,  into  blooming  life  and 
beauty.  The  mind  at  length  becomes  a  paradise,  and  the 
world  without,  a  glorious  living  outcome  and  thus  representa- 
tive image  of  the  world  within.  All  nature,  and  even  the 
commonest  aifairs  of  life,  even  the  humblest  duties,  become, 
though  in  a  sense  unchanged,  transformed  and  transfigured  and 
all  aglow  with  living  beauty.  The  Son  of  Man, — God  as  the 
living  Light, — is  seen  "  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,"  and 
not  only  so,  not  only  in  the  letter  of  Sacred  Scripture,  but 
in  every  natural  object  also.  In  the  fulness  of  this  coming, 
everything  will  be  seen  to  be  alive  with  His  presence,  as  the 
lovely  human  face  is  seen  to  be  alive  with  the  intelligent, 
loving  spirit  behind  or  within  the  face.  For  all  that  is,  will 
then  be  seen  to  be,  as  it  were,  and  as  it  really  is,  the  mani- 
fested face  of  the  Divine.  God  will  not  then  be  "  afar  oiF,"  but 
always  "  at  hand,"  and  always  speaking  to  us,  always  giving  us 
lessons  of  love  and  wisdom,  and  from  all  that  is  within  us  and 
from  all  that  is  around  us.  All  things  will  be  transparent  of 
Him,  as  the  all-pervading,  loving  Spirit  of  Truth.  As  with 
Moses  when  he  came  to  the  "mountain  of  God,  to  Horeb," 
so  with  loving,  rational,  regenerated  humanity  of  this  New 
Jerusalem  age,  as  it  rises  to  its  spiritual  mountain  state;  not 
only  the  "bush  will  burn  with  fire,"  but  every  tree,  every 
plant,  every  hill  and  mountain  and  valley,  every  landscape, 
every  flowing  stream,  every  rain-drop,  every  pebble  even,  "  will 


182  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW   AGE. 

burn"  with  the  presence  of  God,  with  the  presence  of  God 
as  the  very  Spirit  of  Truth,  will  glow  with  living  fire,  and 
yet  will  not  be  "consumed."  And  all  this  will  be,  not  from 
any  transfiguration  without,  but  from  a  transfiguration  within  ; 
not  from  a  coming  of  the  Lord  with  "  observation,"  with  a  "  lo, 
here,"  or  "  lo,  there,"  but  from  a  coming  of  the  Lord  "  within 

you." 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

CHRIST   AND   SWEDENBORG* 

1.    What  Christ  is  to  Man. 

Christ  says,  "  Be  not  ye  called  Rabbi ;  for  one  is  your 
Master,  even  Christ;  and  all  ye  are  brethren." 

Christ  our  Master  or  Teacher !  What  is  really  meant  by 
this?  Who  and  what  is  Christ?  What  is  really  His  relation 
to  us?  What  does  He  do  for  us,  and  how  does  He  do  it? 
The  thinking  man  wants  answers  to  these  questions,  and  he 
must  have  answers,  or  be  of  those  who  are  accounted  as  unbe- 
lievers. 

We  have  many  things  to  unlearn  before  we  can  truly  learn 
who  or  what  Christ  was  and  is.  He  is  infinitely  more  than 
the  loving  and  self-sacrificing  being  whom  we  see,  in  our  im- 
aginations, as  living  on  this  earth  a  few  centuries  ago ;  a  being 
with  finite  and  measured  shape  and  outline.  That,  as  then 
conceived  of,  was  the  Christ  for  that  dark  age,  for  men  too 
carnal-minded  to  conceive  of  Him  or  have  Him  revealed  to 
them  in  His  higher,  true  character.  That  was  the  Christ  whom 
men  have  learned  to  love,  because  lie  loved  them ;  just  as  "sin- 
ners love  those  who  love  them."  He  was  their  Rabbi  because 
He  personally  taught  them  and  cared  for  them.  In  this,  and 
by  His  pure  and  loving  life,  thus  by  His  example,  He  was  a 
"  bright  and  shining  Light."  Since  that  dark  age,  He  ha.s  been 
loved  and  adored  for  what  He  then  did  for  men,  and  because, 

'^'  This  chapter  is  from  the  author's  printed  discourse. 

18a 


184  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE   NEW  AGE. 

as  a  result  of  what  He*did,  He  gave  theru  hope  of  a  happy 
hereafter,  because  He  was  their  Savior. 

All  this  is  well,  until  men  rise  out  of  this  low,  selfish,  mere 
carnal-minded  state.  Such  men  have  found  their  Christ 
"  r('sew."  He  now  comes  to  them,  as  He  promised  that  He 
would  do,  as  the  "  Spirit  op  Truth."  And  such  men  now 
understand  what  is  meant  by  Christ  AS  the  Word,  and  how 
it  was  the  Word  which  was,  "  in  the  beginning,  with  God,  and 
was  God,  and  made  all  things,"  that  was  "  made  flesh."  To 
such  men  Christ  is  now  all  lovable  and  adorable,  not  because 
He  has  loved  and  saved  them,  but  because  He  is,  in  Himself, 
in  His  own  real  nature,  lovable  and  adorable. 

But  how  is  this  ?  We  shall  know  how  it  is  when  we  come 
to  know  what  is  really  meant  by  the  Word,  and  thus  by  Christ 
as  the  Word.  The  Word  is,  in  its  real  nature.  Life  and 
Light  ;  "  in  Him  [the  Word]  was  Life  and  the  Life  was  the 
Light  of  men."  How  full  of  meaning  !  and  how  unmistakable 
the  meaning  !  The  Word,  or — which  is  the  same — God,  as 
"  Li/e,^'  creates.  And  is  not  this  so?  does  anything,  so  far  as 
we  can  see,  come  into  being  but  from  the  operation  of  life, — 
the  plant,  the  animal,  men?  The  Word  as  Light  shows  the 
way  of  life.  0  how  wonderful !  Is  not  Christ,  the  Word, 
then,  in  Himself,  and  for  what  He  is  in  Himself,  lovable  and 
adorable  ? 

And  now  how  plain  what  is  meant  by  Christ — the  Word — 
as  "  Master'''  or  Teacher.  He  is  the  "Light,"  and  this  means 
that  He  is  the  living  Truth, — not  verbal  truth,  but  truth 
that  internally  ^£»t<;s,  as  it  were,  into  the  mind,  shines  in  it  and 
illuminates  it. 

Such  is  Christ  as  Rabbi,  or  Master,  in  the  present — which  is 
the  New  Jerusalem — age  of  the  world.  He  is  the  Christ  in 
His  now  second  coming,  not  personally,  but  as  the  "  Spirit 
of  Truth,"  and  coming,  therefore,  not  outside,  but  within  the 
mind  itself  of  men. 


CHRIST  AND  SWEDENBQRO.  185 

2.    The  Man  of  the  Neio  Jerusalem, 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  character  of  the 
coming,  or  New  Jerusalem  phase  of  developing  humanity,  and 
that  of  all  preceding  ages.  This  difference  is  as  that  between 
ripening  manhood  and  the  preceding  stages  of  infancy,  child- 
hood, and  youth.  And  we  meet  with  practical  illustrations 
of  this  difference  every  day,  especially  among  religionists,  some 
of  whom  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  what  is  taught ;  they  have 
unbounded  respect  for  the  "  Fathers,"  in  other  words,  for  the 
"  authorities."  They  regard  themselves  as  all  right  if  they 
think  and  believe  as  the  Fathers  thought  and  believed, — and  no 
matter  if  the  Fathers  did  live  and  form  their  opinions  and 
creeds  in  a  less  mature  and  a  darker  age  of  human  intellect. 
And  there  are  some  possessing  these  traits  of  character,  even 
among  professed  believers  in  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 
Such  persons  refer  everything  to  Swedenborg.  The  first  ques- 
tion with  them  is  not,  is  it  true  ?  does  it  look  reasonable  ?  but, 
what  does  Swedenborg  say  on  the  subject  ?  is  it  in  accordance 
with  his  teachings  ?  If  so,  this  settles  it ;  they  do  not  need 
to  think  any  more  about  it ;  their  minds  are  at  rest ;  they  are 
perfectly  satisfied.  But  you  talk  with  them  about  it,  and  you 
will  see  that  they  have  really  got  nothing,  nothing  that  has  en- 
tered into  the  real  fibre  of  their  own  mind.  Nothing  that  they 
have  is  theirs ;  it  is  but  borrowed  material  which  they  have 
taken  only  within  the  walls  of  their  external  memory.  They 
can,  perhaps,  tell  you  all  that  Swedenborg  says  on  the  subject, 
and  they  are  proud  of  their  knowledge,  though'such  men  have 
very  little  that  is  their  own.  They  have  a  plenty  of  words,  a 
plenty  of  borrowed  thoughts,  but  little  or  no  real  light.  Their 
intellectual  stores  are  as  borrowed  grain  in  the  sack,  and  not  as 
bread  digested,  appropriated,  and  entering  into  the  very  sub- 
stance of  the  tissues.  Such  men  lack  the  most  essential  ele- 
ments of  the  real  New  Jerusalem.  They  simply  knoio  ;  they 
do  not  possess,  do  not  own.     They  are  mere  Swedenborgians, 

9* 


186  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

as  others  are  Calvinists,  Lutherans,  or  Wesleyans.  They 
differ  from  these  mainly  in  having  a  different  Rabbi.  They 
may  be  good  and  true  men,  but  not  men  of  real  manhood. 
They  are  the  last  lingering  remnants  of  an  age -that  is  passing 
away.  They  are  not,  in  the  real  fibre  of  their  nature,  of  the 
real  New  Jerusalem. 

With  another  class  of  men  the  case  is  entirely  different. 
They  are  men  of  the  New  Age.  They  possess  its  genius  and 
imbibe  its  spirit.  They  love  its  manhood  character.  They 
have  more  respect  for  an  infidel  who  is  a  MAN,  than  for  a  blind 
believer  who  is  not  a  man.  No  mere  authority,  but  the  one 
only  Master,  is  authority  for  them.  Everything  must  be 
brought  to  the  test  and  approval  of  their  own  thought  before 
they  can  believe  it.  That  another  has  thought  it  out  and  be- 
lieved, is  no  satisfying  element  or  condition  of  faith  for  them. 
Their  belief  must  have  its  basis  within  their  own  minds. 

Such  is  the  character  of  the  men  of  the  real  New  Jerusalem. 
And  such  men  must,  of  necessity,  remain  irreligious  and  un- 
believing, until  they  can  see  something  more  rational  than  the 
religious  systems  of  the  past,  and  until  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
are  so  explained  as  to  be  relieved  of  so  much  that,  in  the  letter, 
is  an  offence  to  the  sensibilities  of  a  pure,  loving  heart,  and 
that  does  such  violence  to  the  unsophisticated  intuitions  of 
reason  and  common  sense.  Such  men  can  never  believe  that 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  are  of  Divine  Origin,  until  they  are  sat- 
isfied that  they  are  capable  of  a  very  different  explanation  from 
what  has  been  given  them  by  the  "  Fathers."  For  men  of  this 
character  believe  only  as  they  themselves  see.  They  take 
nothing  requiring  intellectual  thought  on  mere  authority. 
They  belong  to  an  age  whose  blindly  trusting  childhood  and 
easily  misguided  youthhood  are  passing  away ;  an  age  in 
which  humanity  is  fast  advancing  into  its  rational,  Godlike 
manhood.  And  this  is  a  humanity  which  must, /oy  itself,  ex- 
amine and  weigh  and  judge. 


CHRIST  AND  SWEDENBORG.  187 

3.   Light  of  Experience. 

And  is  not  this  the  genius  of  the  present  and  coming  age  of 
the  world?  And  do  we  not  see  this  manifesting  itself  in  every 
department  of  human  thought?  The  dust-covered  tomes  of 
olden  time  are  now  taken  from  their  alcoves,  not,  as  formerly, 
as  authority^  but  as  gratulatory  evidence,  by  contrast,  of  mod- 
ern progress,  or  to  test  the  degree  of  present  advancement. 
The  number  of  those  is  now  rapidly  increasing,  who  resort,  not 
alone  to  books,  not  to  authoritative  teachers,  but  to  free  ra- 
tional thought,  or  to  the  revelations  that  are  made  to  such 
thought  for  instruction.  For  the  true  light  comes,  not  through 
books,  or  teachers,  or  Rabbis,  or  fathers ;  but  it  comes  as  the 
result  of  the  exercise  of  free,  rational,  regenerated  manhood 
thought.  And,  inasmuch  as  this  thought  is  excited  by  love, 
or  is,  as  it  were,  love  itself  thinking,  the  light  is  brighter  and 
brighter  as  the  love  is  purer,  thus  as  the  mind  becomes  more 
perfectly  regenerated. 

And  this  kind  of  mind  is  becoming  more  and  more  charac- 
teristic of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  If  you  now  ask  him 
whose  mind  partakes  of  the  real  genius  of  this  age,  whether 
certain  new  doctrines  are  correct,  he  will  not  go  to  some  Rabbi, 
some  favorite  authority ;  he  will  not  first  consult  some  author- 
ity, as  Calvin,  or  Doddridge,  or  Wesley,  or  Swedenborg ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  will  first  take  the  question  into  the  crucible  of 
his  own  thought ;  he  will  first  open  the  windows  of  his  own 
mind  towards  heaven ;  he  will  do  this  by  that  kind  of  inquiry 
which  alone  can  render  his  mind  receptive  of  the  light  of 
heaven.  If  a  man  looks  to  others  for  truth,  he  gets  only 
verbal  truth ;  if  he  looks  within — Christ  is  within — he  gets 
living  truth,  that  truth  which  illuminates  the  mind,  and  thus 
gives  it  keener  perceptions  and  a  truer  understanding.  If 
such  a  person  goes  to  authorities,  it  is  to  those  whose  opinions 
and  teachings  he  has  found  to  be  in  harmony  with  both  reason 
and  revelation,  and  who  have  drunk  from  the  stream,  perhaps, 


188  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

higher  up  towards  its  Divine  fountain,  or  who  have  received 
light  into  more  highly  regenerated  minds  than  his  own.  And 
he  goes  to  them,  not  as  "  masters,"  but  as  "  brethren ;"  not  as 
to  one  who  himself,  like  Christ,  gives  light,  but  who,  like  him- 
self, receives  light,  and  from  the  same  Divine  Source  whence 
all  receive  it. 

4.    Oracles. 

And  this  is  the  use  of  "  brethren,"  of  an  oracle,  or  of  one 
who  speaks  with  more  or  less  of  authority  because  from  the  light, 
and  thus  with  the  authority,  of  his  use  or  calling.  Yet  do  not 
mistake  him  for  your  master  ;  he  does  not  give  you  the  truth 
which  you  receive  ;  he  has  none  to  give  you ;  he  is  only  a  re- 
cipient, like  yourself,  though  he  receives,  it  may  be,  into  a  purer 
vessel  and  in  larger  measure,  and  you  therefore  regard  him  an 
elder  brother. 

And  such  is  Swedenborg  to  those  who,  like  him,  are  of  the 
real  New  Jerusalem.  He  is  an  elder  brother.  Moreover,  he 
speaks  from  the  light  of  a  peculiar  use  or  office.  We  regard  his 
writings  as  true  and  as  of  the  very  highest  of  finite  authority. 
And  yet  they  are  not  our  Master.  They  are,  at  most,  only 
true  verhal  statements  of  truth.  The  Lord  as  the  Word^  thus 
as  the  truth,  is  the  only  Light,  the  only  "  true  Light  that 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world."  The  Lord  as 
such  "  true  light" — and  light  actually  shining  in  the  mind — is 
the  only  acknowledged  Master  of  the  real  man  of  the  New 
Jerusalem.  Swedenborg's  writings  are  only  explanations  of 
truth.  No  mere  verbal  forms  of  truth,  however  much  cause 
we  may  have  for  confidence  in  them,  can  be  acknowledged  as 
master  by  the  real  Godlike  man  of  this  and  the  coming  age. 
Such  writings  give  no  real  light  to  the  mind.  They  only  show 
the  way  to  the  Light.  The  Sacred  Scriptures  even,  in  the 
letter^  or  as  mere  verbal  statements  of  truth,  do  not  give  any 
real  living  light ;  they  are  the  basis  and  continent,  and  thus 
tempering  mediums  of  the  Light,  as  the  clouds  are  of  the  sun- 
light.    And  thought,  grounded  in  love,  is  the  only  vessel  into 


CHRIST  AND  SWEDENBORG.  189 

which  the  true  light,  or  Christ,  the  Word,  as  the  true  light, 
can  flow.  When  you  read  Sacred  Scripture,  you  get  from  the 
letter  only  verbal  j^rcccpts  of  life ;  you  do  not  get  from  the 
letter  Uving  truth;  but  if  you  read  devoutly,  with  your 
thoughts  grounded  in  love  and  charity,  living  truth  as  living 
light  flows  into  the  mind  ;  your  mind  receives  the  very  "  spirit 
of  truth,"  or  the  very  "spirit  and  life"  of  the  Word,  of  which 
the  letter  is  only  the  outer  garment.  The  light  thus  received 
— and  which  is  Christ  your  master — manifests  itself  in  the 
mind,  in  truer  thoughts,  keener  perceptions,  brighter  intuitions, 
and  clearer  convictions.  You  get  an  influx  of  no  such  light 
from  any  other  writings.  The  truth  of  all  other  writings  is 
measured  out  to  you  simply  by  what  they  say.  You  may  be 
informed^  but  not  enlightened^  by  them.  It  is  only  Christ  in 
His  second  coming  as  the  "  spirit  of  truth"  that  can  really 
enlighten  the  mind.  Swedenborg's  writings  are,  at  best,  only 
verbal  truth.  They  have  nothing  in  them  above  the  letter,  as 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  have.  They  are  in  no  sense,  then,  our 
Master.  Our  Master  is  truth  as  unshaded  light  shining  in  the 
mind,  and  truth  as  loe  see  it,  not  as  somebody  else  sees  it  and 
tells  us  about  it.  Swedenborg — as  every  truly  regenerated  man 
does — saw  by  Christ  as  the  very  spirit  of  truth  ;  but  he  did  not 
give  us  that  spirit  of  truth  ;  he  did  not  write  it ;  he  could  no 
more  write  that  kind  of  truth  than  you  can  write  the  sunlight. 
He  only  described  it.  Thus  we  see  the  infinite  difference  be- 
tween his  writings,  or  any  other  mere  verbal  statements  of  truth, 
and  Christ,  or  truth  in  its  Divine  or  spiritual  form  as  our  Master. 
Who  or  what,  then,  is  Swedenborg  ?  What  is  the  particular 
office  and  use  of  his  writings  ?  I  answer,  Swedenborg  simply 
takes  us  by  the  hand  and  leads  us  to  our  real  Master  and 
Father.  He  has,  so  to  speak,  gone  up  before  us ;  and  now  he 
tells  us  how  to  go  up.  He  has  himself  sought  out  the  way, 
and  now  he  shows  us  the  way.  This  is  all  he  does.  lie  does 
not  give  us  the  light ;  but  he  explains  it,  explains  where  it  is, 
and  the  way  to  get  it.     And  thus  we  go  to  him,  not  as  our 


190  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

master,  but  as  one  who,  if  we  will  follow  his  directions,  or  fol- 
low his  example,  indeed,  will  lead  us  to  our  master. 

5.  Revealed  hy  Explanation, 

His  great  mission  was,  by  explanation,  to  open  the  in- 
ternal sense  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  ;  to  open  it  as  far  as 
explanation  could  do  it ;  was,  by  explanation,  to  uncover  the 
Fountain  of  living  waters  ;  was  to  show  Ao?«  He  who  "  be- 
came Flesh — "  God  with  us" — was  the  Word,  and  was  the 
"  true  Light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world."  But  thus  uncovering  the  fountain  does  not  give  us 
of  its  sweet  waters  ;  to  know  even  all  that  he  knew,  or  all 
that  he  has  taught  about  this  fountain,  would  not  enable  us  to 
drink  of  it.  Before  we  can  drink,  we  must  "  thirst"  for  the 
waters ;  and  we  must  have  a  vessel  formed  into  which  to  re- 
ceive them.  He  shows  us  how  this  vessel  is  formed  ;  and  shows 
us  that,  in  proportion  as  it  is  formed,  we  thirst  and  it  is  filled. 
He  tells  us  where  the  Fountain  is,  what  it  is,  and  how  we  can 
go  to  it ;  and  he  tells  us  as  one  who  has  already  drunk  of  it ; 
he  tells  us  how  the  Word  that  was  made  Flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us  is  that  fountain,  and  how  the  Sacred  Scripture^ 
concerning  whose  meaning  there  has  always  been  so  much 
doubt,  is  only  as  the  outer  garment  or  walls  of  the  fountain. 

He  does  not  say,  "  Come  to  me  as,  your  master."  He  does 
not  say,  "  Receive  what  I  say  as  authority,  or  as  Divine,  for  I 
am  only  your  brother.  What  I  receive  is  divine,  is  living  truth, 
is,  as  it  were,  God  speaking  to  me  ;  for  I  receive  from  Christ  as 
our  common  Master.  But  what  I  give  is  not  divine,  for  I  give 
only  explanations  of  truth,  and  as  I,  a  finite  being,  conceive  of 
it.  I  give  truth  only  as  it  is  fiuited  into  thoughts,  ideas,  prin- 
ciples, in  the  crucible  of  my  own  mind,  and  thus  only  in  words. 
The  true  light  does  not  pass  through  me  to  you.  I  can  give 
you  a  knowledge  of  truth  ;  I  can  explain  to  you  what  truth  is, 
and  what  are  the  conditions  of  its  reception;  just  as  the  physi- 
ologist can  give  you  knowledge  of  the  influx  from  the  brain  into 


CHRIST  AND  SWEDENBORG.  191 

the  body,  and  can  explain  what  that  influx  is,  and  what  are  tlie 
conditions  of  its  reception.  But  I  cannot  give  you  truth,  any 
more  than  the  physiologist  can  give  the  life  of  the  brain  to  the 
body.  For  truth,  as  I  have  said,  is  life,  is  the  Divine  life.  I 
can  receive  it  as  life,  but  cannot  give  it  as  life.  Christ  alone, 
who  is  the  spirit  and  the  life  of  the  Word,  can  give  you  truth. 
I  can  tell  you  how  to  form  the  vessel,  but  He  alone  can  fill  it : 
just  as  I  can  explain  the  sunlight  to  you ;  but  the  sun  alone 
can  give  it  to  you.  If  your  eyes  are  diseased,  so  that  they 
are  closed  against  the  sunlight,  I  can  tell  you  how  they  can 
be  cured  and  opened ;  or  I  can  tell  •  you,  if  your  vision  is 
obstructed  by  clouds,  how  you  can  rise  on  a  mountain  above 
the  clouds  into  the  sunlight,  but  I  can  never  give  you  the 
sunlight.      Truth  is  the  spiritual  sunlight." 

And  thus  it  is  plain  what  is  the  relation  of  Swedenborg's 
writings  to  us.  They  are  not  the  truth,  but  are,  in  verbal 
explanations,  sure  guides  to  the  truth.  And  we  are  to  receive 
them,  not  as  the  light  of  the  Holy  City,  but  as  guides  to  and 
on  the  way  to  the  Holy  City.  And  this  way  is  simply  the  way 
of  regeneration ;  is  the  way  by  which  we  become  redeemed 
from  the  infirmities  and  the  darkness  of  our  lower  nature, 
and  thus  the  way  by  which  we  become  capable  of  receiving 
truth  from  Christ  as  our  Master ;  is  the  way  by  which  truly 
rational  mind  is  formed  and  prepared  as  a  vessel  into  which 
truth  from  the  Lord,  as  living  light,  can  flow. 

6.    The  Crucible  of  Thought. 

And  such  mind  can  be  developed  only  by  little  and  little, 
and  only  as,  step  by  step  in  its  progress,  it  freely  and  ration- 
ally does  its  own  thinking.  Everything  must  pass  through 
the  crucible  of  its  own  free  thought,  must  be  examined  and 
tried  by  the  test  of  its  own  reason,  and  even  though  its  reason 
be,  as  yet,  but  small  in  its  development ;  even  all  the  teachings 
of  Swedenborg  must  pass  through  this  crucible, — they  will  do 
so — he  meant  that  they  should  do  so — if  our  minds  possess, 


192  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

so  far  as  they  are  developed,  the  real  character  and  spirit  of 
the  New  Jerusalem.  And  this  was  the  character  of  his  mind, 
and  this  is  the  reason  why  he  advanced  so  rapidly  and  in  such 
a  direct  way,  to  the  light  of  the  Holy  City.  This  is  the  reason 
why  he  became  capable  of  receiving,  in  such  large  and  full 
measure,  truth  from  Christ  as  his  master.  And  so  he  tells  us 
that  we  can  really  receive  nothing  but  what  we  receive  ration- 
ally, and  can  really  believe  nothing  but  what  we  can  see,  or 
only  so  far  as  we  can  see. 

Let  us  not  flatter  ourselves,  then,  that  we  are  necessarily  of 
the  New  Jerusalem,  because  we  believe  and  love  its  doctrines. 
This  love  and  faith  must  be  of  an  entirely  difi'erent  character 
from  what  has  existed  in  any  previous  age  or  phase  of  human- 
ity. There  have  been  other  masters  than  Christ  in  all  other 
ages,  and  He  has  been  truly  acknowledged  as  master  in  jiotie 
of  them.  The  nature  of  the  faith  in  all  these  ages  has  been 
like  that  of  childhood  and  youth.  It  has  been  founded  only 
on  external  evidence,  or  only  on  authority ;  there  has  been  no 
rational  conviction ;  the  clergy  have  derived  it  from  the 
"  fathers,"  and  the  people  from  the  clergy.  Thus  the  fathers 
have  been  the  masters  of  the  clergy,  and  the  clergy  of  the 
people.  This  has  been  peculiarly  the  case  in  the  age  that  is 
now  passing  away.  The  time  has  been  when  no  one  dared  to 
question  the  utterances  from  the  pulpit,  when  no  one,  in  fact, 
was  disposed  or  even  thought  to  do  so ;  when  everything  that 
the  minister  said  was  believed  as  a  matter  of  course,  for  he  was 
regarded  as  a  kind  of  demigod.  And  this  has  been  almost  the 
only  kind  of  religious  belief  that  has  existed  in  the  ages  past. 
This  is  the  case  now  in  the  papal  church  ;  it  is  less  so  in  the 
protestant  church ;  and  it  still  lingers  even  among  those  pro- 
fessing to  be  of  the  New  Chui'ch.  Is  any  one's  mind,  indeed, 
free  from  it  ?  Is  not  the  faith  of  each  one  of  us  resting,  in 
part,  at  least,  on  what  we  regard  as  authority, — that  is  to  say, 
on  some  verbal  expression  of  truth,  rather  than  on  truth  itself? 
Is  not  this  still,  to  some  extent,  the  tendency  of  our  own  mind  ? 


CHRIST  AND  SWEDENBORQ.  193 

Are  not  all  more  or  less  inclined  to  rest  in  the  authoritative 
statements  of  Swedenbori;:,  or  of  those  in  whom  they  have 
confidence,  without  applying  the  test  of  their  own  rational 
thought?  Tliis  is  to  have  otlifr  masters  than  Christ.  But 
this  kind  of  faith,  and  this  quality  of  mind  must  pass  away ; 
they  are  not  of  the  New  Jerusalem ;  they  must  pass  away  as 
the  characteristics  of  youth  pass  away  on  advancing  into  man- 
hood. This  was  not  the  character  of  Swedenborg's  mind, 
which,  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  the  harbinger  and  the 
herald,  was  also  the. grand  exemplar  of  the  real  genius  of  the 
descending  New  Jerusalem.  lie,  looking  to  his  one  only 
Master  for  light  and  life,  moulded  his  character,  built  the 
temple  of  his  own  manhood.  He  used  authorities,  all  the 
great  lights,  all  the  learning  of  the  world,  but  only  as  means ; 
he  sifted  and  tried  everything ;  he  winnowed  out  the  chaff  by 
means  of  the  light  flowing  into  rational  thought,  and  used  the 
wheat  as  the  nourishment  of  that  very  thought.  Truths  living 
truth,  truth  as  living  light,  of  which  he  believed  the  Word, 
or  Christ  in  the  Word,  was  the  only  source,  was  his  master. 
And  because  such  truth  was  his  master — truth  rationally  seen 
— the  pursuit  of  this  opened  new  avenues  of  thought,  and  was 
constantly  revealing  new  means  of  arriving  at  truth.  Thus  it 
was  free,  rational  thought,  prompted  by  love  fur  the  common 
good,  that  led  him  to  Christ  as  his  master,  or,  rather,  that 
led  him  to  shun  evils  as  sins  against  the  Lord,  and  to  do  His 
commandments,  as  the  only  way  to  his  Master.  It  was  this 
kind  of  life  and  discipline,  and  not  mere  intellectual  training, 
that  gave  his  mind  such  a  high  state  of  illuminated,  rational 
thought,  and  made  the  letter  of  the  Word  transparent  to  him 
of  its  own  Divine,  spiritual  light,  for  it  opened  his  mind — ^just 
as  similar  life  and  discipline  will  open  any  mind — upward 
towards  heaven,  so  that  the  Sun  of  heaven  could  shine  into  it 
and  enlighten  it ;  in  other  words,  so  that  Truth — Living  Truth 
— could  come  in  and  make  its  abode  in  the  mind. 

Swedenborg,  as  our  brother,  was  simply  a  fellow  branch  of 


194  SWEDENBORO   AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

the  same  vine.  We  are  to  receive  from  the  same  Source 
whence  he  received,  and  in  a  similar  way.  His  writings  and 
his  example  are  simply  instructive  lessons  to  us,  how  we  can 
come  into  co-ordinate  states  with  his  as  branches  of  the  same 
vine,  or  members  of  the  same  body.  In  the  same  sense  the 
angels  are  our  brethren.  We  are  all  branches  of  the  same 
vine,  all  children  of  the  same  Father,  whose  relation  to  us  is 
as  the  vine  to  the  branches.  We  may  give  each  other  knowl- 
edge, we  may  instruct  each  other  in  regard  to  the  truth.  But 
we  cannot  receive  truth — that  truth  which  is  Master — from 
each  other,  any  more  than  we  can  the  sunlight,  or  any  more 
than  one  branch  can  receive  life  from  another  branch,  or  than 
one  member  of  the  body  can  receive  the  influx  of  the  heart 
or  of  the  brain,  which  is  as  truth  to  the  body,  from  another 
member.  We  can  receive  truth,  which  is  the  life  of  the  soul, 
as  the  blood  is  of  the  body,  from  one  only  source,  from  one 
only  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  and  who  is  the  one  only  life 
and  light. 

How  plain  it  is,  then,  that  we  have  no  Rabbi  but  Christ ; 
that  Swedenborg  even  in  no  sense  stands  between  us  and 
Christ,  the  Lord ;  that  his  writings  are  in  no  sense  the  Word, 
or  a  substitute  for  the  Word ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  his 
teachings  and  his  example  only  show  us  into  what  form  we 
must  be  moulded,  in  order  that  we  may  go  ourselves  directly 
to  Christ  as  our  Master  ! 


CHAPTER    IX. 

AUTHORITY  AND  INFALLIBILITY, 

1.  Different  Kinds  to  Differmt  States. 

Man  had  never  before  been  capable  of  a  rational  under- 
standing of  the  Word.  He  knew  nothing  about  it  as  "  spirit 
and  life,"  or  "  the  spirit  of  truth ;"  nor  was  he  capable  of 
knowing.  But  he  was  now  becoming  capable  of  understand- 
ing a  rational  explanation^  or  of  understanding  the  "  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Word"  in  the  sense  of  an  explanation  of  that 
sense.  Such  explanation  was  all  that  was  needed  and  all  that 
could  be  given.  It  would  have  been  of  no  use  before,  or  it 
would  have  been  given  before.  Blind  obedience  to  verbal 
authority  was  all  that  the  Israelite  was  capable  of,  and  there- 
fore all  that  was  required  of  him.  The  so-called  Christian 
was  only  one  step  in  advance  of  the  Israelite.  With  such 
Chiistian  the  Bible  meant  just  what  it  literally  says;  and  his 
reason,  if  he  had  any,  must  be  suppressed  while  reading  it. 
No  verbal  Scripture  statement  was  to  be  questioned.  The 
difference  was,  authority  to  the  Israelite  meant,  "  Thou  shalt, 
or  shalt  not,  fZo;"  to  the  Christian,  "Thou  shalt  believed 

But  the  time  had  now  come,  when  man  was  coming  into 
his  full,  rational  manhood.  He  must  now  use  his  God  given 
reason  in  all  that  he  read  and  in  all  that  he  did.  But  the 
Bible,  as  given  to  the  Israelite,  or  as  given  to  the  Christian,  as 
mere  literal  truth,  would  not  bear  the  test  of  manhood  reason. 
As  read  in  the  full  exercise  of  unbiassed,  rational  thought, 
as  the  truly  rational  man  must  now  read  it,  in  the  mere  letter, 

195 


196  SWEDEN BORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

it  contains  inconsistencies,  contradictions,  absurdities.  And  if 
tlie  letter  were  all  that  there  was  of  the  Word,  it  must  inevit- 
ably have  been  repudiated  as  the  Word  of  God,  and  rejected. 
One  was  raised  up,  therefore,  by  the  Lord,  to  show  rationally 
and  logically  that  the  literal  meaning  was  not  all  the  meaning 
of  Sacred  Scripture ;  to  show  that  Sacred  Scripture  was  only 
the  Word  finited,  clothed,  and  accommodated  to  man  in  a  very 
gross,  "carnal-minded,"  "  froward"  state;  and  thus  was  raised 
up  rationally  to  explain  its  real  nature  as  "  spirit  and  life."  It 
is  plain  that  such  explanation,  to  be  adapted  to  the  man  of  the 
Age,  must  be  given  by  a  man  of  the  Age.  For  the  Word 
was  to  be  hereafter — different  from  what  it  had  been  hereto- 
fore— authority  to  each  man  as  he  should  himself  rationally 
see  and  understand  it,  and  not  as  somebody  else  said  it  meant. 
Its  authority,  therefore,  must  not  be  in  the  man  explaining  it, 
in  reverence  for  his  learning,  his  wisdom,  his  integrity,  nor  in 
any  external  evidence,  even  if  there  were  any,  that  "  the  Lord 
explained  it ;"  but  its  authority  must  be  in  what  each  one 
should  see,  see  for  himself,  IN  the  explanation.  I  mean  that,  to 
the  man  of  this  new  age,  all  the  elements  of  conviction  must 
be  in  the  very  nature  of  the  explanation  itself;  and  that,  there- 
fore, the  explanation  must  come  through  a  man  of  the  Age, 
through  a  man  who  was  in  the  very  light  itself  of  that  spirit- 
ual sense, — spiritual  sense  in  the  sense  of  Spirit  of  Truth, — 
which  it  was  his  mission  to  explain,  at  the  same  time  that  he 
possessed  all  other  requisite  qualifications.  I  mean  that  the 
explanations  of  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  were  to  be,  on 
account  of  the  peculiar  genius  of  the  coming  man,  in  the 
highest  degree,  rational ;  and  hence  Swedenborg's  most  pecu- 
liarly rational  qualifications.  For  they  were  to  satisfy  rational 
want,  rational  inquiry  ;  they  were  to  help  men,  not  merely  to 
know,  but  to  see  ;  and  in  this,  in  their  helping  men  to  see,  con- 
sists all  their  power  and  all  their  authority.  Swedenborg, 
therefore,  enforces  his  teachings  with  no  other  kind  of  author- 
ity than  that  of  an  appeal  to  man's  rational  convictions.      It 


AUTHORITY  AND   INFALLIBILITY.  197 

is  not  to  be,  I  insist,  with  the  coming  man,  as  with  the  past, 
"  thus  saith  the  Lord,"  and  you  must,  therefore,  submit  with- 
out rational  thought  or  question.  The  Lord  is  to  speak  to  the 
coming  man,  not  as  verbal  truth  speaks,  but  as  the  "  Spirit  of 
Truth"  speaks, — which  is  the  Lord — the  Lord  as  the  Word — 
coming  "  in  His  glory,"  and  so  coming  because  coming  as  the 
glorious,  bright  shining  of  truth  in  the  mind,  instead  of  in 
verbal  statements  of  truth  outside  the  mind.  It  was  thus  in 
His  glory,  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  that  He  came  to  Swcden- 
borg,  the  forerunner,  herald,  and  great  exemplar  of  the  coming 
man.  The  man  of  this  New  Age  is  going  to  believe,  on  ac- 
count of  what  he  rationally  sees,  on  account  of  the  things 
revealed  to  his  rational  convictions,  and  not  on  account  of 
what  he  is  authoritatively  told,  or  of  his  confidence  in  the 
medium  through  whom  the  revelation  comes.  Christ,  Christ 
in  His  advent  as  the  "  Spirit  of  Truth,"  is  to  be  his  only 
Master.  It  will  be  impossible  for  him  to  believe  on  any  other 
ground,  or  in  any  other  authority.  He  is  going  to  respect  any 
revealer,  therefore, — revealer  in  the  sense  of  explainer, — only 
as  he  learns  to  do  so  through  his  respect  for  the  revealed. 

The  reverse  has  been  the  case,  but  because  of  as  yet  imma- 
ture, undeveloped  manhood.  This  is  the  secret  of  the  peculiar 
nature  of  Swedenborg's  qualifications.  He  is  to  be  judged  ac- 
cording to  the  character  of  his  message,  and  as  this  produces 
rational  conviction,  and  not  according  to  his  authority  as  a 
messenger.  In  this  some  have  entirely  mistaken  the  nature  of 
the  authority  of  Swedenborg's  writings,  as  well  as  th5  real  na- 
ture of  the  coming  man  for  whom  he  wrote.  The  truth  that 
makes  free  is,  to  the  coming  man,  the  truth  that  speaks  in  him 
and  not  outside  of  him.  Thus  his  authority  is  the  Lord  as  he 
himself  sees  Him  in  such  truth,  and  not  as  somebody  else  sees 
Him ;  thus  is  the  Word  as  he  rationally  mulerstands  it,  with 
such  helps  as  he  can  get,  and  not  as  any  language,  human  or 
divine,  authoritatively  says  it  means.  And  this  is  the  only 
kind  of  authority  legitimately  existing  in  the  New  Church. 


198  SWEDENBORG   AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

The  point  is"  right  here :  to  men  in  an  external  or  merely 
representative  state  of  mind  the  mere  words  or  representative 
forms  of  truth  must  be  authority ;  for  this  is  all  they  can  see ; 
they  cannot  understand  and  therefore  respect  any  other  kind  of 
authority.  And  this  must  be  substantiated  as  divine  authority 
by  seemingly  mysterious  and  incomprehensible  demonstrations 
of  power.  To  such  men  the  mere  Incarnation  itself,  the  hu- 
manity assumed  by  the  Lord,  the  finite,  maternal  part  of  the 
"  Grod  with  us,"  is  all  that  is  cognizable.  The  Christian  world, 
to  this  day,  have  had  no  true  idea  of  what  it  really  is  that 
makes  Christ  God.  But  is  such  to  be  the  nature  of  the  au- 
thority to  the  real  New  Jerusalem  ?  Is  it  to  be,  in  any  sense 
or  manner,  "  thus  saith  Swedenborg,"  or  "  thus  saith  the  Writ- 
ings?" Are  not  the  Writings,  on  the  contrary,  designed  and 
calculated,  as  we  come  to  fully  understand  and  imbibe  their 
true  spirit,  to  lead  us  from  the  representative  to  the  real  or 
represented  Master,  the  real  truth,  the  "  Comforter,"  or  Spirit 
of  Truth  ?  Are  they  not  calculated  to  free  us  from  old  exter- 
nal ideas  of  mere  representative,  verbal  authority,  and  to  lead 
us  into  states  of  perception  and  acknowledgment  of  the  Spirit 
of  Truth  as  authority,  and  truth  as  each  for  himself  sees  it, 
and  not  as  Swedenborg  or  some  one  else,  in  words,  states  it  to 
him?  How  can  men,  really  belonging  to  this  New  Jerusalem 
Age,  if  they  possess,  even  measurably,  its  spirit,  waste  their 
time  and  talents  in  attempts  to  prove  or  disprove  this  thing  or 
that  thing  from  any  verbal  statements  of  truth,  which  at  best 
can  be  but  mere  shadows,  as  it  were,  of  truth,  even  if  we  grant 
— as  we  do — that  they  are  in  no  way  shadows  distorted  by  the 
medium  through  which  they  came?  It  is  not  a  matter  worth 
discussing,  whether  Swedenborg's  writings  are  fiillible  or  infal- 
lible, and  it  is  not  anything  of  the  true  genius  and  spirit  of  the 
Age  that  has  suggested  the  question.  Yet  one  thing  we  may 
be  assured  of,  and  that  is,  if  we  are  really  at  war  with  ourselves, 
if  we  are  living  the  life  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  thus  are 
coming  into  its  true  order  and  under  its  true  authority,  we 


AUTHORITY  AND  INFALLIBILITY.  199 

shall  see  ourselves  so  plainly,  we  shall  be  so  painfully  conscious 
of  our  imperfections  and  blindness,  that  wc  shall  go  to  the 
Writings  in  humility,  and  in  undoubting  faith  in  everything 
essential  as  regards  their  accuracy  as  verbal  teachings.  We 
shall  not,  indeed,  question,  or  be  disposed  to  question,  Sweden- 
borg's  teachings ;  we  should  regard  it  as  presumption  in  our- 
selves to  do  so,  and  as  evidence  of  our  own  blindness.  For  we 
know,  we  are  all  convinced  that  his  statements  were  made  with 
the  Lord — the  Lord  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth — visibly  present ; 
that  is  to  say,  with  the  Lord  as  the  Word  livingly  shining  in 
and  illuminating  his  mind.  To  question  the  verbal  accuracy 
of  Swedenborg's  explanations,  when  we  have  acknowledged 
his  high  mission  and  his  wonderful  qualifications  for  it,  be- 
cause of  some  imagined  discrepancies,  or  for  any  other  cause, 
would  be  only  less  presumptuous  than  it  would  be  for  a  man, 
ignorant  of  all  but  the  external  form  and  members  of  the 
body,  to  question  a  learned  anatomist's  description  of  its  inter- 
nal mechanism.  We  only  disclaim  Swedenborg's  writings  as 
authority  in  any  such  sense  as  that  in  which  Sacred  Scripture, 
in  its  mere  letter,  is  authority  to  an  external  or  representative 
church.  We  maintain  that  any  authority  claimed  for  them 
like  that  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  is  a  misunderstanding  and 
perversion  of  their  real  design  and  use,  and  a  misconception  of 
the  real  character  of  the  age  and  of  the  wants  of  the  age  for 
which  Swedenborg  wrote.  Such  false  claim  for  the  Writings 
is  one  in  character  with  the  empty  rituals  and  ecclesiasticisms 
of  the  past,  which,  though  indispensable  and  useful  to  man  in 
a  low,  sensuous  state,  are,  nevertheless,  nothing  more  than  the 
old  fig-leaf  aprons  extended  over  the  shame  of  degenerate  gen- 
erations, or  to  hide,  or  serve  as  a  substitute  for,  the  want  of 
real  life  of  an  external  church.  The  tendency  of  such  a  claim, 
like  all  rituals  observed  as  rituals,  is  to  hold  the  mind  down  in 
mere  externals.  The  Writings,  on  the  contrary,  virtually  say 
in  their  spirit,  "  hold  yourself  in  no  such  bondage  to  any  ex- 
ternal statements  of  truth  ;"  but,  "  arise,  shine  ;  for  thy  light  is 


200  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord" — that  is  to  say,  the  glory  of 
the  real  Word — "  is  risen  upon  thee."  The  Lord  is  in  His 
second  or  real,  full  coming ;  in  His  coming  to  an  internal 
church ;  in  His  coming,  therefore,  as  real,  not  verbal,  truth ; 
tliat  is  to  say,  as  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  by  immediate  influx  into 
the  mind  with  power,  therefore,  and  great  glory. 

2.  ^'■Authority  in  the  Neio  Church." 

Authority  in  the  New  Church  !  What  is  it  ?  According 
to  the  tone  and  drift  of  thought  of  some  writers,  authority  in 
the  New  Church  seems  too  much  like  that  of  another  papal 
hierarchy.  We  are  told,  for  example,  that  "  the  doctrines  of 
the  New  Church  are  to  be  believed  first,  and  afterwards  to  be 
confirmed  by  rational  considerations."  The  Catholic  Bishop, 
Ryan,  in  a  lecture  on  "  what  Catholics  do  not  believe,"  says : 

"  They  have  first  convinced  themselves  that  the  church  to 
which  they  pay  allegiance  ...  is  an  unerring  messenger  of 
Grod  to  them  ;  therefore,  if  they  submit  to  a  decision  of  the 
Church,  they  submit  to  the  decision  of  a  tribunal  which  their 
own  reason  has  already  accepted  as  an  unerring  tribunal." 

But  how,  in  the  full  exercise  of  their  reason,  could  they 
have  first  convinced  themselves  that  any  human  institution 
was  unerring  ?  and  especially  how  could  they  now  do  it  in  the 
light  of  the  fearful  history  of  such  institution  ?  The  Catholic 
is  evidently  convinced, — if  it  may  be  called  conviction, — on 
simple  authority,  that  the  church  is  infallible ;  and  on  simple 
authority  he  believes  her  decrees.  Reason,  the  distinctive  at- 
tribute of  his  race, — that  which  makes  him  a  man, — has 
nothing  to  do  with  either  his  conviction  in  the  one  case,  or  his 
belief  in  the  other.  He  is  a  mere  animal ;  authority  does  it 
all.  The  authority  of  the  church  says  that  the  church  is  un- 
erring, and  the  church's  infallibility  is  authority  for  faith  in 
her. 


AUTHORITY  AND  INFALLIBILITY.  201 

3.   "  To  he  BeUeved  Firsts 

So  this  new  theory  of  the  Writings  as  '.'  the  Lord's  writings," 
says,  "  The  doctrines  are  to  be  believed  first,  and  afterwards 
to  be  confirmed  by  rational  considerations."  But  on  what 
grounds  believed  first  ?  The  man  of  true  manhood  of  the  New 
Church  must,  as  an  imperative  necessity,  have  some  rational 
grounds  for  his  belief  In  this  he  is  different  from  the  man 
of  any  previous  church  age.  If  Swedenborg  teaches  that  a 
man  must  believe  before  the  exercise  of  "  rational  consider- 
ations," it  is  sufficient  cause  for  the  rejection  of  his  writings  as 
unworthy  of  confidence.  The  man  of  this  age  is  not  a  true 
man  of  the  age,  if  he  can  have  confidence  in  any  such  teaeh- 
ino-s.  But  Swedenborg  nowhere  teaches  such  absurdities. 
The  very  passages  from  "  True  Christian  Beligion"  and  "  Ar- 
cana Coelestia"  cited  in  confirmation  of  the  above  remarkable 
statement,  are  distorted  from  their  true  meaning.  They  mean 
exactly  the  opposite.  The  following  is  in  one  of  the  passages 
cited  from  T.  C.  R.  508, — which  is  enough  for  all, — namely : 

''  The  Word  with  the  Roman  Catholics  was  taken  away  from 
the  laity,  and  with  the  Protestants  it  is  open,  but  still  shut  by 
their  common  saying  that  the  understanding  is  to  be  kept 
under  obedience  to  their  faith.  Bat  in  the  New  Church  it  is 
reversed;  in  her  it  is  lawful  by  the  understanding  to  enter  and 
penetrate  into  all  the  secrets  of  it,  and  also  to  confirm  them  by 
the  Word ;  the  reason  is,  because  its  doctrinals  are  truths  con- 
tinuous from  the  Lord,  laid  open  by  the  Word ;  and  confirm- 
ations of  them  by  rational  things  cause  the  understanding  to 
be  opened  above  more  and  more,  and  thus  to  be  elevated  into 
the  light  in  which  the  angels  are." 

If,  as  is  claimed  by  some,  the  Writings  are  infallible, — and 
the  true  man  of  this  age  will  not  waste  a  thought  on  the  ques- 
tion whether  they  are  or  not, — a  man  must  in  some  way — 
and  it  is  not  shown  how — be  convinced  of  it,  it  seems, — just 
as  the  papist,  in  some  way,  has  to  be  convinced  of  the  iufalli- 

10 


202  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

bility  of  his  church, — before  he  can  be  permitted  to  exercise 
"  rational  considerations."  And  here  is  the  difference  between 
the  papist  and  those  who  regard  the  Writings  as  "  the  Lord's 
writings,"  and,  therefore,  infallible :  the  former  pretends,  at 
least,  to  allow  you  the  use  of  your  reason  in  becoming  con- 
vinced of  the  infallibility  of  the  church,  whilst  the  latter  seem 
to  recognize  no  such  preliminary  condition  of  belief  as  neces- 
sary as  regards  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church.  These  doc- 
trines must  be  believed  first,  simply  because  they  are  "  contin- 
uous truths  from  the  Lord,"  and  thus  the  Lord's  teachings. 
How  do  we  know  that  they  are  such  truths  ?  How  can  we 
know  without  the  exercise,  first,  of  "rational  considerations?" 
The  New  Church  mind  cannot  take  this  for  granted,  on  blind 
authority,  as  the  Catholic  mind  can  the  infallibility  of  his 
church ;  if  it  can,  then  it  is  not  New  Church  mind.  It  is  of 
no  avail  to  say  that  this  declaration  is  in  the  AVritings  and 
that  the  Writings  are  the  Lord's.  How  do  we  know  that  they 
are  the  Lord's  writings?  They  who  have  come  to  this  conclu- 
sion, have  evidently  done  so  on  their  own  principles,  namely, 
that  certain  things  ''  must  be  believed  first,  and  afterwards 
confirmed  by  rational  considerations ;"  for  people  who  believe 
first  on  "  rational  considerations,"  are  very  far  from  coming  to 
their  conclusions. 

4.  Misinterpreted  Statements. 

If  there  is  anything  taught  in  the  Writings  more  clearly 
than  anything  else,  it  is  that  the  man  of  the  New  Church  is  a 
rational  man ;  that  there  is,  indeed,  no  real  manhood  without 
rationality ;  that  there  is,  in  fact,  no  genuine  manhood  act, 
thought,  aifection,  or  motive,  or  desire  even,  and  thus  no  be- 
lief without  reason  as  a  prime  constituent  element.  When 
the  general  statement,  therefore,  is  made,  on  the  authority  of 
Swedenborg,  "  that  the  affirmation  of  what  is  Divine,  and  thus 
the  acknowledgment  of  what  is  Divine  as  authority,  must  come 
first,  and  rational   thought   afterwards,"  we  are  compelled  to 


AUTHORITY  AND  INFALLIBILITY.  203 

doubt  the  correctness  of  the  understanding  of  Swedenborg, 
and  even  though  the  statement  be  seemingly  substantiated  by 
the  language  of  Swedenborg.  We  will  not  believe  that  Swed- 
enborg is  inconsistent  with  himself,  as  we  should  be  forced  to 
do,  if  we  took  all  his  readers'  representations  of  him  as  cor-" 
rect,  or  all  their  quotations  from  him  as  representing  him  truly. 
And  as  regards  citations  from  Swedenborg,  a  great  mistake 
is  made  in  taking  certain  sjjecml  statements  as  general  state- 
ments, and  without  regard  to  the  subject  treated  of.  For  ex- 
ample, Swedenborg"  is  represented  as  making  the  general  state- 
ment (A.  C.  3388),  that  "  the  acknowledgment  of  what  is 
Divine  is  the  first  thing,  for  then  an  idea  of  holiness  is  present, 
which  gives  universal  confirmation  to  each  and  every  thing 
that  is  said,  even  though  it  he  not  comprehended^ 

Now  let  us  look  at  the  context  of  this  statement.  Just 
hefore  it,  we  read :  "  It  is  treated  concerning  those  who  are  in 
the  doctrinals  of  faith,  and  have  no  perception  of  truth  from 
good,  but  only  a  conscience  of  truth  from  this,  that  it  has  been 
so  told  them  by  parents  and  masters.  .  .  .  With  such  persons, 
the  first  of  confirmation  of  truth  is,  that  it  is  called  Divine  [_ilUs 
prinium  conjirmationis  veri  est,  quod  Divinum  dicatw-]'^  It 
is  plain  from  the  Latin  even,  aside  from  the  context,  that 
Swedenborg  does  not  make  the  general  statement  that  "  the 
acknowledgment  of  what  is  Divine  is  the  first  thing."  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  "  with  such  persons"  [the  peculiar  class  he 
is  treating  of]  that  "  the  first  of  confirmation  of  truth  is,  that 
it  is  called  Divine,"  and  why?  Swedenborg  then  adds:  "  for 
then  they  have  instantly  an  idea  of  what  is  holy,  which  gives 
universal  confirmation  to  all  and  each  of  the  things  that  are 
said,  and  this  though  they  do  not  comprehend  it.  But  still  the 
things  said  must  he  adequate  to  their  comprehension  [they  must 
have  some  rational  perception  of  it]  ;  for  it  is  not  enough  that 
a  man  knows  that  a  thing  is ;  he  wants  to  know  what  it  is,  and 
how  it  is  or  what  is  its  quality,  so  that  some  confirmation  may 
accrue  thence  to  his  intellectual  part,  and  in  turn  from  that ; 


204  SWEDE NBORG   AND    THE   NEW  AGE. 

otherwise,  a  thing  may,  indeed,  be  committed  to  the  memory, 
but  it  remains  there  not  other  than  a  dead  thing  as  if  a  thing 
of  sound ;  and  unless  some  confirming  things  infix  it.  from 
whatever  source  derived,  it  is  dissipated  like  the  reminiscence 
of  something  only  sounding." 

Take  another  example  of  the  wrong  use  of  special  state- 
ments as  general  ones  in  support  of  the  position  of  belief  first 
and  rational  confirmation  afterwards.  The  following  has  been 
cited  for  such  a  purpose,  from  A.  C.  1911 : 

"  Intellectual  truth  does  not  appear,  i.e.,  is  not  acknowledged, 
until  fallacies  and  appearances  are  dispersed ;  and  these  are 
not  dispersed  so  long  as  man  reasons  concerning  truths  them- 
selves from  sensual  and  scientific  things ;  but  it  then  first  ap- 
pears when  a  man  believes  from  a  simple  heart  that  it  is  truth, 
because  the  Lord  has  spoken  it :  then  the  shades  of  fallacies 
are  dispersed ;  and  then  it  matters  not  to  him  that  he  does  not 
comprehend  it." 

In  order  to  understand  the  real  significance  of  this  extract, 
we  must  ascertain  the  subject  of  the  paragraph  whence  it  is 
taken ;  and  the  subject  is  the  relation  of  the  "  rational  first 
conceived'^  to  "truth  intellectual  or  spiritual."  Such  rational 
cannot  acknowledge  such  truth  as  truth,  "  because  there  ad- 
here to  it  many  fallacies  originating  in  sciences  received  from 
the  world  and  from  nature,  also  appearances  derived  from 
knowledges  collected  from  the  literal  sense  of  the  Word,  which 
are  not  truths.  As,  for  example,  it  is  an  intellectual  truth, 
that  all  life  is  from  the  Lord ;  but  the  rational  first  conceived 
does  not  comprehend  this  truth.  ...  It  is  an  intellectual 
truth  that  all  good  and  truth  are  from  the  Lord ;  but  neither 
does  the  rational  first  conceived  comprehend  this,  because  it 
ajjpears  to  sense  as  if  good  and  truth  were  from  self,"  etc. 

Several  other  examples  are  given  of  similar  import  in  the 
same  number.  But  Swedenborg  does  not  speak  of  this  as  a 
fault  of  this  "  first  conceived"  rational,  but  as  being  all  that 
the  mind,  in  this  jyarticular  stage  of  development,  is  capable 


AVTHORITF  AND   INFALLIBILITY.  205 

of.  For  the  case  was  precisely  similar  with  the  Lord,  with 
whom,  though  there  were  no  fallacies,  yet,  "  when  His  rational 
was  Jirst  conceived,  there  were  appearances  of  truth,  which 
were  not  in  themselves  truths.  .  .  .  Hence  also  His  rational,  at 
its  first  conception,  like  man's,  lightly  esteemed  intellectual 
truth."  But  with  Him  and  with  man,  the  clouds  of  appear- 
ances were  dispersed  in  the  regular  order  of  progress  to  higher 
states.  The  necessity  of  this  order  some  men  fail  to  I'ecog- 
nize,  and  it  seems  that  they  would  have  a  man  he^in  with  a 
state,  which,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  must  come  at  a 
later  stage  in  the  work  of  regeneration,  and  as  the  fruit  of 
several  preceding  states. 

Man  cannot  believe,  "  from  a  simple  heart,"  etc.,  until  he 
?ias  a  "  simple  heart;"  he  can  so  believe  only  when  his  state 
is  ripe  for  such  belief;  only  when,  like  the  tree  in  preparation 
for  fruit-bearing,  he  has  passed  through  certain  preparatory 
states.  Swedenborg  recognizes  at  least  two  distinct  states  of 
progress  as  preparatory  to  that  in  which  "  fallacies  and  appear- 
ances are  dispersed,"  and  "  intellectual  or  spiritual  truth  ap- 
pears, i.e.,  is  acknowledged."  He  says  the  "  progression  is 
from  scientifics  to  rational  truths  ;  next,  to  intellectual  truths ; 
and,  lastly,  to  celestial  truths."  "  Scientific  truth  is  of  science  ; 
rational  truth  is  scientific  truth  confirmed  by  reason ;  intellec- 
tual truth  is  joined  with  an  internal  perception  that  it  is  so." 
A.  C.  1495-96.  This  is  the  order  of  progression.  It  was  so 
with  the  Lord.  And  every  state  must  come  in  its  order.  Sci- 
entifics and  sensuals  must  have  their  day ;  but  when  they  have 
done  their  work,  the  mind  parts  with  the  fiiUacies  and  appear- 
ances connected  with  them,  as  the  tree  parts  with  its  blossoms 
when  the  prolific  principle  of  the  pollen  is  matured  and  the 
germ  is  fertilized.  But  though  a  man  may  have  passed  through 
the  first  two  states,  he  never  can  come  into  the  third,  or  that 
of  intellectual  truth,  or  of  faith,  and  an  acknowledgment  of 
what  is  Divine,  unless  he  is  fighting  against  his  sins,  and  thus 
is  being  regenerated.     Thus  it  is  not  until  a  man  has  pro- 


20G  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AOE. 

gressed  to  the  third  state,  or  a  state  of  "  intellectual  truth," 
that  he  can  "  believe  first,  and  afterwards  confirm  his  belief  by 
rational  considerations."  And  he  can  do  so  then  only  because 
he  has,  as  a  result  of  prior  experiences,  an  "  internal  percep- 
tion that  it  is  so." 

5.  A  State  of  "  Intellectual  Truth.'' 

And  when  a  man  has  arrived  at  a  state  of  "  intellectual 
truth/'  "joined  with  an  internal  perception  that  it  is  so,"  what 
is  his  authority?  what  is  his  "Rabbi,"  or  "Master?"  Is  it 
any  writing,  any  verbal  statement  of  truth  or  doctrine  ?  is  it 
doctrine  as  formulated  and  expressed  in  human  language  ?  is 
it  truth  finited  and  coming  to  him  through  the  medium  of 
another  mind  ?  is  it  what  any  finite  being  tells  him  is  truth, 
or  is  the  Lord  ?  No,  never,  never,  never  !  But  before  a  man 
comes  to  that  state  of  "intellectual  truth,"  he  must  take  such 
verbal  information  as  authority  as  he  is  best  capable  of.  But 
all  such  information  is,  at  best,  exceedingly  imperfect ';  for  it 
means  one  thing,  or  another  thing,  exactly  according  to  the 
state  of  the  recipient  of  it.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  an 
infallible,  finite  medium  of  truth  or  doctrine.  The  mere  letter 
of  the  Word,  though  spoken  by  the  Lord,  is  not  so.  It  is 
constantly  a  question  with  every  one,  while  passing  through 
the  preliminary,  sensuous,  scientific,  and  "  first  conceived"  ra- 
tional states, — before  he  has  arrived  at  a  state  of  "  perception," 
— what  does  this  mean  ?  What  seems  perfectly  transparent  of 
truth  at  one  time,  or  to  one  person,  is  full  of  obscurity  and 
doubt  at  another  time,  or  to  another  person.  But  when  he  has 
arrived  at  that  state  of  "  intellectual  truth,"  in  which  he  has 
a  "  perception  that  it  is  so,"  the  doubts,  the  fallacies,  and  ap- 
pearances of  preceding  states  flee  away,  as  birds  of  night  before 
the  day. 

And  then,  when  a  man  has  come  into  this  state  of  percep- 
tion, he  no  longer  remains  in  doctrinals.  A.  C.  6043.  What 
does  he  care  for  doctrinals,  that  is,  for  verbal  statements  of 


AUTHORITY  AND   INFALLIBILITY.  207 

doctrine,  and  even  tliouL;,li  such  statements  be  perfect  ?  He 
now  has  an  "  authority,"  a  "  Master,"  even  Christ,  the  Word, 
that  is,  the  very  "  Spirit  of  Truth"  itself,  which  is  to  him 
absolutely  unerrinj^;.  He  has  now  actually  come  in .  sight  of 
the  Holy  City,  and  is  in  its  light.  He  now  sees  wherethe  city 
is,  and  what  it  is,  for  it  is  in  his  heart, — sees  its  golden  streets 
and  pearly  gates,  of  which  he  had  before  heard  and  learned  so 
much,  through  doctrinals  or  verbal  statements  about  them, — 
sees  them  now  actually  shining  in  the  bright  sunlight.  And 
now  what  becomes  of  all  the  misunderstood,  and  thus  errin<r 
guides  to  the  city  ?  That  is,  what  becomes  of  the  sensuous, 
scientific,  or  purely  rational  information  that  he  has  had  about 
the  city  ?  Is  he  any  longer  necessarily,  or  in  any  such  way  as 
formerly,  a  subject  of  instruction  through  human  language, 
and  by  any  formulated  statements  of  doctrine  ?  He  now  sees 
like  the  blind  with  sight  restored.  He  does  not  need  to  be  led 
by  any  sensuous  or  "  rational  considerations."  He  has  out- 
grown all  such  means.  All  such  things  are  therefore  now  dis- 
persed, or  are  used  only  as  confirmations;  otherwise  they  would 
blind  him.  For  him  now  to  rely  on  "  rational  considerations" 
for  his  belief,  would  be  as  if  a  traveller,  after  he  had  come  in 
sight  of  the  city,  should  rely  on  verbal  directions  to  it,  instead 
of  his  own  now  clear  vision  of  the  way  to  it.  Sensuals,  sci- 
entifics,  and  reasonings  are  indispensable  up  to  a  certain  point 
in  the  journey  of  life, — they  must,  indeed,  lead^  up  to  that 
point;  but,  after  arrival  at  that  point,  they  necessarily  and  nat- 
urally take  a  subordinate  position,  and  all  that  is  fallacious 
about  them  is  seen  and  abandoned.  When  a  man  comes  into 
a  state  to  perceive  truth  as  it  flows  into  the  mind  ^^  contimiously 
from  the  Lord,"  to  believe  such  truth  then  from  what  is  sen- 
sual, scientific,  and  rational,  is  to  make  it  a  nullity.  This  is 
clearly  shown  in  "  Arcana  Coelestia,"  2538,  in  which  and  the 
preceding  numbers  Swcdcnborg  is  treating  of  ductrine,  which 
he  says,  in  25 IG,  is  "  from  the  essential  Divine  and  the  Divine 
Human  of  the  Lord ;  this  is  its  origin,  and,  indeed,  insomuch 


208  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

that  the  Lord  is  doctrine  itself,  and  therefore  in  the  Word  is 
called  the  Word,  the  Truth,  the  Way,  the  Light,  the  Door." 
Swedenborg  is  evidently  not  speaking  of  doctrinals  here,  or  of 
statements  of  doctrine,  but  of  that  substantial  entity  which 
the  man  in  "  intellectual  truth"  '^ perceives^'  as  doctrine,  and  as 
doctrine  as  an  interiorly  illuminating  principle. 


CHAPTEU    X. 

DOCTRINE  AND  THE  HOLY  CITY. 

1.  Doctrine. 

Among  other  inferences  drawn  by  some  from  T.  C.  R.  779, 
are  the  following,  namely :  first,  "  that  the  doctrines  contained 
in  the  theological  writings  of  Swedenborg  are  meant  in  the 
Apocalypse  by  '  the  Holy  City,  New  Jerusalem  descending 
from  God  out  of  heaven ;'  "  and,  second,  "  that  the  publica- 
tion of  these  writings  in  this  world  constitutes  the  Lord's 
Second  Coming,  which  was  promised  in  the  letter  of  the 
Word." 

By  another  passage  ("  Coronis,"  Nos.  18  and  20)  some  think 
that  "  it  is  clearly  proved  that  the  New  Jerusalem  does  not 
descend  insensibly  into  the  interiors  of  men,  and  hence  does 
not  transform  them  gradually  by  an  interior  process  into  the 
members  of  the  New  Jerusalem  :"  and  why  ?  "  for,"  it  is  added, 
"  it  is  distinctly  stated  here  that  by  the  descent  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  is  meant  the  descent  of  doctrine,  and  that  by  means 
of  this  doctrine  the  New  Jerusalem  is  established  upon  earth." 

Now  let  us  look  at  these  statements.  According  to  the 
above  view.  Doctrines  are  the  Holy  City,  and  the  publication 
of  them  constitutes  the  Second  Advent ;  and  this  is  not  a  pro- 
gressive work,  is  not  a  gradual  transformation  of  men,  but 
takes  place  "  once  for  all."  And  yet  in  those  very  passages 
cited  from  the  "  Coronis,"  Swedenborg  says  that  "  the  doctrine 
of  the  New  Heaven  is  the  doctrine  of  truth  and  good  falling 
from  heaven  like  the  dew  of  twilight,  by  which  the  leaves  of 
the  grass  are  opened  and  their  vegetative  juice  is  sweetened. 

10*  209 


210         SWEDENBORO   AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

This  doctrine,  also,  is  like  the  shower  of  rain,  which  refreshes 
the  fruits  of  the  field,  and  causes  them  to  sprout ;  it  is  also 
like  the  fragrance  exhaling  from  the  fields,  gardens,  and  flowery 
meadows,  which  is  inhaled  by  the  beast  with  an  eager  and  glad 
spirit."  The  dew  and  the  rain  fall  gradually.^  and  their  effect 
is  a  gradual  one.  And  the  fragrance  also  is  a  progressive 
effluence,  and  the  beast  inhales  it  by  little  and  little,  and  is 
made  glad  by  it.  These  are  beautiful  and  most  significant 
illustrations  of  doctrine  in  its  descent  and  efi"ects. 

2.  Adveiit,  Doctrine^  and  Holy  City  the  same. 

The  great  confusion  and  inconsistency  on  this,  as  on  other 
subjects,  arises  from  persistently  taking  the  mere  verbal  state- 
ment or  explanation  of  a  thing  for  the  thing  itself.  If  Swe- 
denborg's  writings,  yea,  the  very  books  themselves,  constitute 
the  Second  Advent,  then  they  constitute  the  Doctrines  of  the 
New  Jerusalem,  and  constitute  also  the  New  Jerusalem  itself; 
for  these  three,  as  acknowledged  by  all,  and  as  Swedenborg 
teaches,  are  one  and  the  same, — are  so  in  their  real  meaning, 
or  when  we  come  to  know  what  is  really  meant  by  the  Lord's 
Advent,  by  Doctrine,  and  by  the  New  Jerusalem. 

Nothing  is  more  plainly  taught  in  the  Writings,  than  that 
the  Lord's  Advent  is  an  influx  and  perception  of  Divine 
Truth,  and  also  that  such  Truth  is  what  is  meant  by  "  Doctrine 
continuous  from  the  Lord;"  and  thus  that  such  Doctrine  is  the 
Lord ;  and  that  when  received  and  taking  effect  in  men,  such 
Doctrine  is  really  the  New  Jerusalem.  And  that  all  this  is  a 
^'' perception,'^  an  internal  inspiration,  or  illustration,  will  appear 
plain,  when  we  consider  that  there  has  been  no  change  in  the 
Lord,  none  whatever,  as  the  Cause  of  these  results.  There 
has  been  no  absolutely  new  or  diff"erent  influx  of  Divine  Truth 
from  the  Lord  ;  neither  has  it  been  different  in  its  operation  so 
fur  as  the  Lord's  absolute  agency  is  concerned.  The  Lord,  as 
the  same  Divine  Truth,  has  always  flowed  into  man,  and  un- 
remittingly so.     The  change,  all  that  has  ever  taken  place,  has 


DOCTRINE  AND   THE  HOLY  CITV.  211 

been  in  man,  or  has  been  a  change  induced  by  man's  changed 
state,  thus  by  changed  receptive  conditions.  This  change  has 
simply  enabled  him  to  perceive  what  he  never  perceived  before  ; 
thus  has  enabled  the  Lord,  as  the  very  Life  and  Light,  as  the 
very  "  Spirit  of  Truth,"  of  the  Word,  to  manifest  Himself  to 
man  as  He  never  had  done  before.  And  how  plain  it  is  that 
the  Lord  as  such  influx  of  Divine  Truth,  is  the  "  Doctrine  of 
the  New  Jerusalem,"  or  of  that  new  phase  of  humanity  which, 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  man,  has  come  into  a  state 
to  be  illuminated  by  such  Divine  Truth,  or  to  have  it  shine  in 
his  mind ;  and  how  plain  that  the  New  Jerusalem  itself  is 
nothing  else  than  the  Lord,  as  such  Truth,  "  coming,"  or  as 
such  doctrine,  "  descending,"  "  from  God  out  of  heaven,"  into 
the  LIFE  of  MEN  !  How  plain  all  this  is ;  and  how  it  lifts  the 
clouds  from  a  great  many  passages  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
and  in  the  Writings  !  The  real  Advent  is  the  perceived  Influx 
of  the  Lord  as  Divine  Truth  ;  Doctrine  is  the  same  Influx  in 
its  instructing  and  illuminating  eflScacy ;  the  New  Jerusalem 
is  the  same  in  its  "  descent'^  into  the  life,  or  in  its  progressive 
and  eflfective  operation  in  the  life.  Thus  such  Truth  is  the 
Lord  coming  in  me,  when  I  have  come  into  a  state  to  perceive 
His  presence  or  the  presence  of  such  Truth  in  me, — which 
presence  is,  in  itself,  nothing  new,  but  is  new  only  in  its  new 
manifestation,  or  in  my  new  perception  of  it ;  for  it  is  always 
in  me,  as  my  soul  is  always  in  my  body :  it  is  Doctrine  when 
and  because  it  illuminates  me ;  it  is  the  New  Jerusalem  when 
and  because  it  is  in  my  life. 

3.  Doctrine  and  Doctrinals. 

Swedenborg  says :  "  The  case  with  Doctrine  is  this :  it  is 
no  doctrine  just  so  far  as  it  is  believed  to  be  doctrine,  from 
anything  human,  that  is,  from  anything  sensual,  scientific,  and 
rational ;  but  so  far  as  the  sensual,  scientific,  and  rational  is  re- 
moved, that  is,  so  far  as  doctrine  is  believed  without  them,  so 
far  it  lives,  for  so  far  the  Divine  flows  in ;  the  thing  proper  to 


212  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

the  human  impedes  influx  and  reception.  But  it  is  one  thing 
to  believe  from  the  rational,  scientific,  and  sensual,  or  to  con- 
sult these  in  order  to  believe,  and  another  thing  to  confirm  and 
corroborate  what  is  believed  by  rational,  scientific,  and  sensual 
things." 

By  Doctrine  here — Doctrine  that  "  lives" — is  not  meant 
"  doctrinals,"  which  "  are  nothing  else  than  appearances  of 
truth  divine,  or  nothing  else  than  spiritual  and  celestial  vessels, 
in  which  is  the  divine."  "  All  those  things  are  called  doc- 
trinals which  are  of  doctrine,  which,  so  far  as  they  can  be  re- 
ceived and  acknowledged  in  heaven  by  r.ngels  and  on  earth  by 
men,  are  said  to  respect  rationals,  for  it  is  the  rational  which 
receives  and  acknowledges  them  ;  but  the  rational  is  such  that 
it  can  in  no  wise  comprehend  things  divine,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
finite,  and  this  cannot  comprehend  the  things  which  are  of  the 
Infinite ;  therefore  truths  divine  from  the  Lord  are  presented 
before  the  rational  by  appearances."  A.  C.  3365. 

Here  we  see  the  great  difierence  between  Doctrine  and 
Doctrinals,  the  former  being  truth  itself,  truth  in  its  essence, 
truth  as  an  influx  of  living  light  "  continuous  from  the 
Lord ;"  the  latter  being  only  an  "  appearance  of  truth,"  or  the 
verbal  vessel  or  medium  of  truth,  ?'.e.,  containing  things  or 
clothed  with  "  things  proper  to  the  human  which  impede  in- 
flux," etc.  The  former  is  for  the  New  Church,  the  latter  is 
all  that  the  Old  has  ever  been  capable  of.  Strictly  speaking, 
Swedenborg's  writings  contain  only  "  doctrinals,"  real  doctrine 
not  being  expressible  in  verbal  statements,  or  in  what  is  "  proper 
to  the  human ;"  for,  when  so  expressed,  it  becomes  doctrinals, 
thus  only  "appearances"  or  "vessels"  of  truth  or  of  doctrine. 
It  may  be  said  of  doctrine — thus  defined — that  it  must  be 
"  believed  first  and  afterwards  confirmed  by  rational  considera- 
tions;"  and  why?  Because  such  doctrine  cannot  be  seen  as 
the  result  of  any  learning  however  great,  or  of  any  process  of 
reasoning  however  acute,  but  only  as  the  result  of  a  certain 
degree  of  progress  in  regeneration  ;  and  it  must  be  seen  before 


DOCTRINE  AND    THE  HOLY  CITV.  213 

it  can  be  believed ;  from  the  very  effect  of  its  influx  into  the 
mind  it  must  be  "  perceived  that  it  is  so."  But  before  a  man, 
through  a  proper  use  of  sensual,  scientific,  and  rational  things, 
arrives  at  this  state,  he  can  no  more  believe  than  a  man  without 
eyes  can  believe  in  the  sunlight,  or  without  ears  can  believe 
in  sound,  except  on  external  authority,  which  is  not  the  belief 
of  the  New  Church. 

But  belief  in  doctrinals,  or  in  verbal  statements  of  doctrine, 
is  a  very  different  matter, — and  these  seem  to  be  all  that  some 
writers  mean  when  they  speak  of  the  "  doctrines  of  the  New 
Church  ;"  they  evidently  mean  the  Writings,  or  the  doctrines 
as  revealed  in  the  form  of  teachings  or  doctrinals.  And  belief 
in  these  requires  a  very  different  exercise  of  human  faculty 
from  that  required  in  belief  in  doctrine  as  just  explained.  A 
man  can  believe  in  doctrinals,  or  things  that  are  told  him,  thus 
things  outside  of  him  and  of  which  he  has  no  internal  vision 
or  "  perception  that  it  is  so,"  only  as  he  sees  convincing  evi- 
dence of  their  truth.  And  this  evidence  must  be  founded  on 
"  rational  considerations."  This  is  a  state  preceding  that  of 
"  intellectual  truth,"  when  such  considerations  would  be  only 
as  clouds  before  the  sight.  He  must  weigh  doctrinals,  must 
turn  them  over,  analyze  them,  and  test  them  in  the  light,  not 
of  perception^ — he  has  not  arrived  at  that  state  yet, — but  of 
such  "  rational  considerations"  as  he  is  now  capable  of.  Whether 
he  can  believe  them  must  depend  upon  how  they  bear  the  test 
of  such  "  considerations ;"  for  either  they  or  the  opinions  of 
men  are,  as  yet,  his  only  authority,  unless  he  has  been  educated 
into  a  sort  of  belief  in  the  Scriptures.  But  if  he  is  really,  in 
the  character  of  his  mind,  a  partaker  of  the  genius  of  the  New 
Church,  he  cannot  regard  the  opinions  of  men  as  authority ; 
but  he  may,  from  evidence  in  themselves,  and  from  an  influence 
which  he  feels  from  them  when  he  devoutly  reads  them,  be 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures.  They,  in  this  case, 
become  his  authority,  but  as  interpreted,  not  to  another's  but 
to  his  own  rational  convictions.     If  he  is  asked  now  to  believo 


214  SWEDENBORO   AND    THE  NEW  AOE. 

certain  doctrinals,  lie  can  really  do  it,  only  as  they  accord,  not 
with  his  "  perception  that  it  is  so,"  for  he  has  none,  but  with 
his  own  rational  understanding  of  the  Scriptures. 

4.    Tlus  and  Preceding  Ages. 

And  this  is  the  vast  difference  between  this  age,  this  New 
Jerusalem  phase  of  developing  humanity,  and  all  preceding 
ages  or  phases,  '■'■nunc  Ucetr  Now  it  is  permitted;  before  it 
was  not  permitted  ;  that  is  to  say,  now  it  is  lawful — for  now  it 
is  possible — to  enter  intellectually  into  the  mysteries  of  faith  ; 
before,  humanity  was  incapable  of  it.  In  the  age  of  the  Is- 
raelitish  church  there  was  no  faith  but  of  the  most  external 
kind,  and  on  the  most  external  of  external  authority ;  it  was  a 
belief  in  which  even  scientific  and  rational  considerations  had 
nothing  to  do ;  it  was  purely  sensuous.  The  man  of  the  first 
Christian  church  age  has  not  been  capable  of  a  faith  founded 
on  anything  higher  than  that  of  "  signs  and  wonders"  and  his 
own  reasonings.  And  these  last  even  have  not  been  permitted. 
He  has  been  required  to  believe  unconditionally  and  without 
the  exercise  of  a  particle  of  "  real"  intellectuality.  But  in 
this  age  it  is  different,  and  different  because  the  capahilities  of 
humanity  are  different,  and  different  in  a  sense  similar  to  that 
in  which  the  capabilities  of  manhood  are  different  from  those 
of  childhood  or  youthhood.  Man  is  now  capable  of  the  true 
light  in  regard  to  regeneration,  and  thus  of  true  regeneration, 
as  he  has  not  been  before.  In  the  Old  church,  regeneration 
is  a  miraculous  and  instantaneous  change  by  an  arbitrary  divine 
act;  which  is  not  regeneration  at  all,  which  does  not,  therefore, 
open  the  mind  to  the  "  living  light,"  and  thus  does  not  enable 
it  to  "  enter  intellectually  into  the  secrets  of  faith."  It  is  law- 
ful now  for  a  man  to  know  what  he  believes  and  why  he  be- 
lieves, for  he  is  now  capable  of  a  real  belief,  and  he  is  just  so 
far  incapable  of  a  blind  belief;  for  he  can  now,  as  he  rises  by 
regeneration  into  his  real  manhood,  intellectually  see — "  per- 
ceive that  it  is  so" — as  he  never  could  before.     He  acknowl- 


DOCTRINE  AND   THE  HOLY  CITV.  215 

edges  no  authority,  therefore,  and  needs  acknowledge  none, — 
no  doctrinals,  no  finited  teachings,  no  formulated  statements  of 
truth, — no  authority  but  Christ  the  Lord,  the  Word,  the  Truth, 
— none  but  Divine  Truth,  that  is  to  say,  as  he  ^^e/reiVrs  it  as 
an  illuminating  influx  into  his  own  mind.  The  doctrinals  of 
this  age,  of  this  peculiar  phase  of  humanity,  are  vessels,  or  are 
the  external  formulated  expressions  of  real  doctrine,  that  is  to 
say,  of  "  truth  continuous  from  the  Lord  laid  open  by  the 
Word,"  whose  "  truths,  one  and  all,  are  so  many  mirrors  of  the 
Lord." 

The  Doctrinals  of  the  Israelitish  age — of  a  man  in  a  blind, 
sensuous,  youthhood  state — must  necessarily  have  been — to 
have  any  influence — the  blind  doctrinals  of  "  thus  saith  the 
Lord."  But  the  Israelite  was  not  required  to  believe  them  ; 
was  not  capable,  indeed,  of  exercising  any  rational  thought  or 
question  about  them  ;  but  he  was  required  to  ohey  them,  and  to 
obey  them  because  "  thus  saith  the  Lord ;"  and  he  was  goaded 
to  obedience  by  threatened  consequences  if  he  did  not  obey. 
The  man  of  the  first  Christian  Church  Age  was  a  step  in  ad- 
vance of  the  Israelite.  The  true  man  of  that  age  has  exer- 
cised his  rational  faculties  in  regard  to  the  real  nature  of  what 
the  Lord  said,  has  claimed  the  right  to  rationally  see  and  un- 
derstand what  the  Lord  required  of  him  before  obeying  or  be- 
lieving even.  Paul  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  a  remarkable 
exemplar  of  this  kind  of  man.  Entirely  diff"erent  from  the  Is- 
raelite, he  was  a  reasoner.  This  was  as  for  as  the  man  of  that 
peculiar  phase  of  humanity  could  go.  He  could  believe  and 
obey  only  on  rational  evidence,  "  rational  considerations."  His 
mind  was  not  open  so  that  he  could  "  see  the  Lord,"  so  that  he 
could  perceive,  that  is  to  say,  "  living  doctrine,^' — "  truth  con- 
tinuous from  the  Lord."  The  papist  who  takes  as  authority 
"  thus  saith  the  church,"  as  a  thus  saith  the  Lord,  though  in 
another  form,  is  practically  still  only  an  Israelite.  The  New- 
churchman  who  adopts  the  view  of  the  Writings  as  "  the 
Lord's  writings"  is  qualificdly  the  same.     For  such  views,  so 


216  SWEDENBORG  AND   THE  NEW  AGE. 

far  as  they  have  any  practical  influence,  tend  to  carry  the 
manhood  of  this  new  age  back  to  the  darkest  of  all  the  dark 
ages.  There  seems  to  be  a  labored  effort  to  prove,  we  regret 
to  say,  that  Swedenborg's  writings — being,  as  it  is  claimed,  the 
Lord's  writings,  thus  the  "  Word  without  the  literal  sense," 
thus  the  Lord, — the  "  Lord  in  His  Advent,"  thus,  the  "  Thus 
saitli  the  Lord" — are  authority  to  the  man  of  this  age,  in  a 
sense  similar  to  that  in  which  the  Scriptures  were  authority  to 
the  Israelite,  and  the  "  Church"  to  the  papist.  The  radical  dif- 
ference of  the  manhood  of  this  age  from  that  of  the  past  ages, 
which  is  as  great  as  is  that  of  individual  manhood  from  child- 
hood, seems  to  be  entirely  ignored.  If  it  could  be  fairly  proved 
from  Swedenborg's  writings  that  he  makes  any  such  claim  for 
them,  it  would  simply  be  proved  to  the  truly  rational  man  that 
his  writings  were  utterly  unworthy  of  himself,  and  unworthy  of 
the  noble,  Godlike  manhood  of  the  Age  for  which  they  were 
given.  The  philosophy  both  of  his  life,  that  is  to  say,  of  his 
own  developing  manhood,  and  of  his  teachings,  is  a  contra- 
diction to  such  a  claim.  Swedenborg's  writings  are  for  the 
use  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  And  truth  to  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem is  not  to  come,  as  to  the  dark-minded  Israelite  or  papist, 
in  the  form'  of  "  thus  saith  the  Lord,"  or  thus  saith  the  church, 
but  in  the  form  of  an  inspiration,  of  an  internally  illuminating 
influx. 

5.   Swedenhorg  and  the  New  Manhood. 

Swedenborg's  life,  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  the  grandest 
exemplification  of  true.  Godlike  manhood  that  the  world  has 
probably  ever  seen,  is  also  the  grandest  exemplification  of  the 
way  of  attaining  to  such  manhood.  His  journey  of  life,  as 
every  other  man's  must  be,  was  through  every  phase  of  de- 
veloping humanity.  He  passed  over  every  plane,  through  the 
instructive  and  disciplinary  experiences  of  every  degree  of 
life.  While  on  the  animal  and  sensuous  plane,  he  was  an  ani- 
mal and  sensuous  being, — an  infant  when  an  infant,  a  child 
when  a  child,  and  a  youth  when  a  youth.     At  each  period  his 


DOCTRINE  AND    THE  HOLY   CITY.  217 

mind  fed  upon  and  was  exercised  by  what  belonged  to  that 
period,  as  should  be  the  case  with  all  other  minds.  He  passed 
through  the  several  states  in  which  '•  scnsuals,"  "  scicntifics,"  and 
"  rationals"  successively  had  their  day,  and  their  work  to  do.  He 
garnered  a  grand  store-house  of  each,  and  to  subserve  higher 
ends  as  he  came  successively,  by  their  use  as  means,  into 
liigher  states.  IJe  never  ignored  any  of  them,  but  gave  each 
its  place  and  its  day  of  rule.  Each  was  to  him  successively  his 
authority,  his  object  of  belief,  and  trust  and  guide.  He  bowed 
to  "  sensuals"  when  on  the  mere  sensuous  plane  ;  but  as  modi- 
fied, of  course,  by  instruction  from  his  superiors,  and  by  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  which  were  his  constant  study.  He  in  like 
manner  bowed  to  "  scicntifics"  while  on  the  scientific  plane, 
and  to  "rationals"  while  on  the  rational  plane.  Like  all  others, 
he  had  to  think  and  live  and  act  according  to  what  he  was  and 
had.,  in  the  phase  through  which  he  was  at  the  time  passing, 
and  not  according  to  what  he  was  not  and  had  not,  but  was 
only  preparing  to  be  and  to  have.  He  did  not  "  believe,"  be- 
lieve, I  mean,  in  the  higher,  true  sense  of  the  word, — believe 
as  it  is  the  exclusive  and  peculiar  prerogative  of  the  man  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  to  believe, — until  all  the  prior  states  had 
ripened  him  for  that  state,  and  he  coxdd  so  believe.  Pie  then 
"  believed,"  but  not  because  he  persuaded  himself  that  he 
ought  to,  but  because  that  was  the  next  faculty  opened,  and  he 
could  not  help  it, — could  not  help  it  any  more  than  the  tree 
can  help  putting  forth  leaves  when  its  state  for  that  phase  of 
development  has  come.  He  believed  when  and  because  he 
was  in  a  state  to  "  perceive  that  it  was  so."  And  did  he  now 
make  the  same  use  of  sensuals,  scicntifics,  and  rationals  that 
lie  had  done  before  ?  By  no  means.  This  would  have  blinded 
him.  On  the  contrary,  he  now  used  them  only  to  confirm 
belief,  not,  as  formerly,  as  grounds  of  belief  Their  use,  once 
a  dominant  one,  is  now  a  subordinate  one. 

How  singularly  all  this  is  exemplified  and  confirmed  in  Swe- 
denborg's  writings  !     What  stores  he  had  <i:athered  in  of  "  sen- 


218  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

suals,"  and  "  scientifics,"  and  "  rationals,"  up  to  a  certain  period 
of  his  life,  up  to  the  time  when,  from  a  state  of  "  intellectual 
truth,"  he  was  "  illuminated,"  or  "  internally  inspired,"  so  that 
he  had  a  "  perception  that  it  was  so  !"  He  then  saw,  and  he 
used  rationals  and  scientifics  only  to  confirm  what  he  saw, — 
they  were  the  "  borrowed  vessels  of  silver,  and  vessels  of  gold 
and  raiment"  which  he  took  with  him  when  he  "  went  up  out 
of  Egypt."  He  wrote  in  the  very  light  itself  of  heaven, — 
thus  as  "  instructed  by  the  Lord  alone," — and  used  what  he 
had  before  acquired,  both  of  learning  and  of  development,  only 
as  means,  only  as  instruments  and  recipient  vessels.  His 
writings  are  most  peculiarly  an  appeal  to  the  rational  mind,  to 
those  who  are  passing  through  the  necessary  states  of  prepa- 
ration, who  are  forming  the  good  ground  which  renders  real 
belief  possible.  For  there  must,  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  be  rational  belief  before  there  can  possibly  be  belief  from 
perception.  The  Writings  give  none  but  rational  light,  rational 
evidence,  that  is,  the  light  of  rational  formularies  or  expres- 
sions of  truth,  and  not  the  light  of  absolute  truth  itself,  not 
the  light  of  "  revelation  from  perception,"  or  "  internal  inspi- 
ration." 

6.    The  Writings  an  Aj^peal  to  Rational  Minds. 

Swedenborg's  writings,  therefore,  it  is  plain,  are  only  rational 
aids  to  states  of  mind  such  as  he  himself  passed  through,  which 
are  preliminary  to  states  of  enlightenment  by  real  truth,  and 
thus  preliminary  to  that  state  of  perception  which  is  attended 
by  genuine  ftiith.  Diflferent  from  the  Word,  they  give  no  other 
light  than  rational  light,  and  they  are  authority  only  on  the 
plane  of  reason.  We  cannot,  therefore,  possibly  believe  them 
on  other  than  rational  grounds,  for  they  are  not  ''  doctrine 
that  lives ;"  they  are  not  the  New  Jerusalem  as  real  doctrine 
is  when  it  descends  into  life,  when  it  flows  into  men  as  the 
life  of  the  vine  into  the  branches ;  they  are  not  the  Lord  in 
His  Advent,  as  the  perception  of  such  doctrine  is ;  they  are 


DOCTRINE  AND    THE  HOLY  CITF.  219 

not  the  "  continent"  of  the  living  Word,  as  Sacred  Scripture  is. 
But  they  are  of  priceless  value  as  "  explanations,"  or  as  fiuiteJ 
and  formulated  revelations  of  all  these,  as  furnishing,  indeed, 
the  rational  substi-atura  of  genuine  belief.  They  show  us,  in 
fact,  how  we  must  live,  and  the  real  nature  of  the  successive 
states  through  which  we  must  pass,  and  the  absolute  necessity 
of  those  states,  before  it  will  be  possible  for  us  to  be  in  a  state 
of  '■'■  j^erception,^''  and  thus  in  a  state  to  truly  believe.  They 
show  the  real  nature  and  significance,  and  relation  to  the  others, 
of  each  state  through  which  we  have  to  pass, — of  the  "  state 
of  sensuals,"  of  the  "  state  of  scientifics,,"  and  of  the  "  state  of 
rationals ;"  and  they  show  us,  with  most  convincing  evidence, 
that  the  state  in  which  it  will  be  possible  for  us  to  believe  can- 
not be  reached  but  as  the  result  of  the  work  done  in  these 
preceding  states.  They  show  us  that  there  is  order,  and  that 
there  are  series  and  degrees  in  everything,  and  that  everything 
must  come  in  its  order ;  that  the  "  full  corn  in  the  ear"  cannot 
come  before  the  "  ear,"  nor  the  ear  before  the  "  blade ;"  for 
the  full  corn  is  evolved  from  the  ear,  and  the  ear  from  or  after 
the  blade.  So  a  "  state  of  scientifics"  is  evolved,  so  to  speak, 
from  a  "  state  of  sensuals  ;"  a  "  state  of  rationals"  from  a  "  state 
of  scientifics  ;"  and  a  "  state  of  perception,"  and  thus  of  belief, 
from  a  state  of  regenerated  rationals. 

It  is  an  important  fact,  and  one  of  significant  bearing  upon 
this  subject,  that  man's  normal  relation  to  Grod  is  that  of  per- 
ception, and  thus  belief.  The  New  Jerusalem  is  man's  return 
to  that  relation,  but  with  all  the  diflPerence  in  kind  and  degree 
that  there  is  between  any  state  of  adult  age  and  a  correspond- 
ing state  of  uncontaminated  infancy  or  childhood.  In  both  of 
these  states  there  is  no  authority  or  "  Master"  but  Christ  the 
Lord  as  an  injiux  of  Divine  Trutli^ — Truth  that  actually  shines 
in  and  thus  illuminates  the  mind.  All  other  appliances  of 
truth,  such  as  formulated  statements,  or  finited  expressions  of 
truth,  have  been  made  necessary  only  because  of  man's  way- 
wardness, and  consequent  blindness  to  real  truth,  while  passing 


220  SWEDENBORG   AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

through  the  intervening  states ;  liave  been,  as  it  were,  an  expe- 
dient growing  out  of  certain  darkened  conditions  of  mind. 
As  man,  therefore,  comes  up  out  of  those  conditions, — as  the 
real  man  of  the  New  Jerusalem  must  do, — he  outgrows  that 
kind  of  autliority.  Think,  then,  of  keeping  man,  in  all  time 
to  come,  under  the  leading-strings  of  verbal  statements  of  truth, 
— as  it  is  the  tendency  of  a  belief  in  the  Writings  as  the 
Lord's  writings  to  do, — and  even  though  we  admit — which  we 
do  not — that  such  statements  were  the  utterances  of  Divinity 
Itself!  The  very  act  of  subjecting  man's  reason  to  such  state- 
ments as  authority  would  blind  him  to  the  perception,  and 
thus  real  authority,  of  inflowing  truth  itself.  It  would  be 
putting  man's  mind,  not  his  hands,  into  gyves.  It  would  de- 
stroy his  freedom,  and  thus  his  manhood.  Why,  the  man  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  phase  of  humanity  is  the  man,  not  gToping 
in  the  dark  valley  and  capable  only  of  being  taught  in  words, 
and  how  to  live  on  that  low  plane  and  as  a  merely  sensuous 
man,  as  the  Israelite  was,  but  actually  rising  on  the  acclivity 
of  the  mountain,  and  capable  of  being  rationally  instructed  in 
the  processes  of  rising,  and  at  length  capable  of  actually  seeing, 
and  trusting  in,  and  being  exclusively  guided  by  the  increasing 
light  itself  of  the  now  almost  visible  summit. 

7.    Wants  of  the  Coming  Man. 

The  man  of  the  noble.  Godlike  phase  of  humanity  now 
developing  is  to  be  an  internal,  not  an  external  man.  It  is 
the  external  man  that  must  have  truth  finited  and  clothed, 
measured  down  to  him  in  verbal  teachings,  in  accommodation 
to  his  state.  When  very  external,  truth  must  come  to  him 
verhalized  into  specific  statements  of  what  he  must  do,  and  of 
what  he  must  not  do,  as  a  merely  physical  or  sensuous  man ; 
it  must,  as  it  were,  be  pushed  down  to  him  in  such  a  form 
that  he  can  see  it  sensuously,  and  feel  compelled  to  obey  it,  and 
to  obey  it,  though  blindly,  as  imperative,  unintelligible,  arbi- 
trary authority.     This  is  the  counterpart  of  that  internal  state 


DOCTRINE  AND    THE   HOLY   CITY.  221 

to  wliicli  truth  comes  with  no  less  authority,  and  with  no  less 
imperativeness,  but  without  the  appearance  of  either  ;  it  giving, 
at  the  same  time,  a  "  perception  that  it  is  so,"  and  striking  a 
cordially  responsive  chord  in  man's  nature.  Then  there  are 
the  intervening  states  which  are,  as  it  were,  the  "  highway" 
from  the  former  to  the  latter,  and  over  which  we  must  all 
pass.  These  are  states  in  which  we  are  passing  from  that  of 
the  mere  blind  authority  of  verbal  truth  to  that  of  clearly  per- 
ceived "  intellectual  or  spiritual  [thus  real]  truth."  We  have 
left  our  port,  have  left  our  "  father's  house ;"  we  have  too 
much  knowledge  and  too  much  rationality  to  stay  where  we 
were,  to  stay  in  what  was  once  home  to  us,  to  stay  longer  in, 
as  it  were,  our  "  swaddling-clothes," — we  have  "  put  out  to 
sea,"  and  a  pathless  sea.  But  if  we  have  been  obedient  to 
authority  we  are  prepared  to  navigate  the  sea ;  our  ship  is  fur- 
nished with  all  the  appliances  needed  to  make  our  voyage  a 
safe  one,  and  even  though  the  sun  by  day,  and  the  pole-star  by 
night,  be  clouded  over.  We  are  in  a  transition  state.  We  are 
trying  our  manhood.  We  have  outgrown  that  blind,  sensuous 
state  in  which  we  believed — or  thought  we  did — every  word 
of  the  Bible,  "  because  the  Bible  said  {1^  We  have  come 
into  a  higher  state,  in  which  something  within  prompts  us  to 
inquire  whether  it  is,  and  why  and  how  it  is, — which  is  neces- 
sarily a  sort  of  doubting  or  sceptical  state.  Our  minds  are 
now  made  up  of  different  materials,  have  different  capacities, 
and  are  subject  to  different  influences ;  to  the  mere  "sensuals" 
of  the  former  state  we  have  added,  and  are  adding,  "scien- 
tifics"  and  "  rationals."  Rightfully  now  everything  must  bear 
the  test  of  reason,  the  as  yet  highest  attribute  of  our  nature. 
The  Scriptures  which  we  had  obeyed,  and  the  principles  we 
had  acquired  from  mere  blind  authority,  must  now  be  brought 
to  the  bar  of  reason,  else  we  must  necessarily  remain  of  the 
religion  in  which  we  were  born  and  educated,  and  even  though 
this  be  paganism. 

And  here  is  precisely  where  the  writings  of  Swcdenborg 


222  SWEDENBORG  AND    THE  NEW  AGE. 

come  in  to  help  us.  It  is  when  we  have  outgrown,  and  become 
dissatisfied  with,  mere  sensuous  authority,  and  we  yearn  for  a 
rational,  practical  view  of  things.  They  are  our  compass  on 
the  sea,  but  not  to  be  followed  blindly, — we  should  then  be  no 
better  than  we  were, — but  rationally.  They  are  now  to  be 
our  authority,  but  by  no  means  in  the  sense  in  which  the  letter 
of  the  Word  was  to  the  Israelites ;  not  authority  as  the  Bible 
was  and  is  to  a  state  of  mere  unreasoning  "  sensuals,"  but  au- 
thority such  as  is  required  by,  and  is  possible  to,  a  state  of 
"  scientifics"  and  "  rationals."  And  what  kind  of  authority  is 
this  but  rational  authority  ?  And  what  is  that  but  a  satisfac- 
tion, as  well  as  aid  to  our  reason  ?  If  these  Writings  do  not 
find  a  response  in  our  reason,  then  they  are  not  authority  for 
us  ;  and  to  acknowledge  them  as  such  would  not  exactly  belittle 
our  manhood,  but  would  show  how  little  manhood  we  have. 
Different  from  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures,  these  Writings  are 
addressed  to  our  reason,  and  are  to  be  acknowledged  by  our 
reason,  when  truly  acknowledged  at  all.  If  you  choose  to 
express  it  so,  they  are  the  Lord's  appeal  to  our  reason;  and  for 
this  reason  they  are  an  appeal  made  through  a  most  eminently 
rational  medium,  and  not  the  less  rational  because  internally 
inspired  or  illuminated.  But  even  though  the  Lord's  appeal, 
even  though  we  admit  (which,  I  repeat,  we  by  no  means  do) 
that  they  are  the  Lord's  writings,  thus  the  Lord's  Word,  they 
are,  nevertheless,  an  appeal  to  reason ;  and  they  must  therefore 
be  regarded  only  as  rational  authority,  or  authority  to  man's 
reason.  And  this  is  the  highest  and  only  authority  that  it  is 
now,  while  man  is  in  this  transition  state  of  scientifics  and 
rationals,  possible  for  him  to  acknowledge  and  obey.  He  can 
now  no  more  acknowledge  sensuous  truth  as  authority  than  he 
could,  while  in  mere  "  sensuals,"  acknowledge  rational  truth  as 
authority.  And  he  certainly  cannot  acknowledge  intellectual 
or  perceptive  truth  until  he  comes  into  a  state  in  which  he  can 
perceive  it.  He  must  first  let  rational  truth  do  its  work — and 
its  work  is  that  of  regeneration,  as  well  as  of  culture  and  de- 


DOCTRINE  AND    THE  HOLY  CITY.  223 

velopment — before  it  will  be  possible  for  him  to  be  in  a  state 
to  perceive  truth,  thus  doctrine  tliat  "  Zi'ves,"  which  is  "truth 
continuous  from  the  Lord,"  wliich  is  the  doctrine  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  which  doctrine  is  the  New  Jerusalem,  atid  which 
truth,  when  perceived  or  as  perceived,  is  the  Advent  of  the 
Lord,  as  shown  above  from  Swedenborg.  When  rational  truth 
has  thus  done  its  work,  then,  and  only  then,  is  a  man  in  a  state 
to  "  believe  first,  and  afterwards  confirm  by  rational  consider- 
ations." This  is  what  we  understand  Swedenborg  to  mean 
when  he  says,  "  Now  it  is  permitted  to  enter  intellectually  into 
the  mysteries  of  faith."  Man  was  not,  capable  of  this  before, 
was  not  capable  of  true  rationals,  and  thus  of  arriving  at  length 
at  "  intellectual  truth."  His  ship  was  driven  hither  and  thither 
by  every  changing  "  wind  of  doctrine,"  he  was  lost  upon  the 
sea  and  without  any  intelligible  reckonings.  Now,  on  the  con- 
trary, man  has  his  nautical  instruments,  and  knows  how  to  use 
them  and  his  reckonings,  and  he  trusts  in  them  as  his  guide 
until  he  comes  within  the  range  of  the  reflected  light  [per- 
ceptive truth]  of  his  destined  port,  when  he  spontaneously 
abandons  all  such  aids,  except  as  confirmations,  and  follows 
his  sight. 

8.    Conclusion, 

What,  then,  do  all  the  labored  arguments  of  "  Authority  in 
the  New  Church,"  and  all  the  zealous  cfi"orts  to  prove  that  the 
Writings  are  the  Lord's,  amount  to  ?  Why  simply  this  :  if  a 
legitimate  use  has  been  made  of  Swedenborg's  teachings,  if 
they  have  not  been  perverted,  and  the  meaning  of  extracts 
from  them  distorted, — and  I  do  not  believe  that  they  have 
been  so,  intentionally, — they  simply  prove  that  Swedenborg's 
writings  are  utterly  unworthy  of  our  confidence,  either  as  his 
writings  or  as  the  Lord's  writings,  and  unworthy  of  Sweden- 
borg himself,  as  a  man  of  the  New  Age.  Fur  they  make 
Swedenborg  contradict,  in  the  most  unmistakable  manner,  the 
very  philosophy  of  man,  of  God,  and  of  man's  relation  to 
God,  which  it  was  the  chief  aim  of  his  writings  to  set  forth. 


224  SWEDEXBORG   ASD    THE  NEW  AGE. 

They  not  onlj  fail  to  recognize,  but  they  make  him  virtaally 
contradict  hl«  most  important  teachings  about  the  real  nature 
and  wants  of  that  most  interesting  and  important  transition 
phase  of  man's  nature  interrening  between  his  state  of  sensuafs 
and  his  state  of  intf:Uectual  or  perixptiv^e  truth.  By  giving  the 
Writiogs  (including  even  the  "  Spiritual  Diary"),  even  every 
verbal  statement  of  them, — the  Authority  of  '•  thus  saith  the 
Lord,''  they  virtually  dwarf  this  part  of  man's  nature  down 
into  his  state  of  mere  sensuals.  They  take  away  man's  high- 
way out  of  Egypt  to  Canaan-  They  carry  man  back  to  the 
old  Israelitish  state  which  could  be  reached  only  by  arbitrary 
precepts  and  commands.  '•'  Thou  shalt"  and  *■  thou  shalt  not" 
was  the  only  form  of  authority  that  the  Israelite  could  ac- 
knowledge. And  this  must  be  enforced  by  threatened  judg- 
ments. This,  on  the  contrary,  is  an  age  of  truth  as  authority, 
truth  in  its  form  of  living  light  shining  in  the  mind,  not  of 
words  spoken  in  the  ear.  Words,  with  the  real  man  of  this 
age,  &om  whatever  Source,  have  no  authority,  and  they  should 
have  none,  but  as  they  are  mediums  of  intellectual  truth,  of  real 
living  light  to  the  rational  faculty.  For  man  is  now  coming 
to  be  man,  Godlike  man,  which  he  had  never  been  before. 

TThat.  then,  is  the  position  of  the  real  man  of  this  age — 
the  man  of  the  real  Xew  Jerusalem — in  re^rard  to  the  Writings 
of  Swedenborg  ?  It  is  that  of  a  rational  inquirer,  as  in  regard 
to  the  writings  of  any  other  author,  weighing  them  and  judg- 
ing them  according  to  the  measure  of  rational  satisfaction  he 
derives  from  them.  They  are  authority  to  him  just  so  far.  and 
only  so  far  as  they  help  him  to  rationally  «e«  truth,  or  what  is 
truth  to  him  ;  and  then  it  is  not  the  Writings,  which  are  mere 
statements  of  truth,  but  the  truth  itself  thus  rationally  seen., 
— which  is  the  Lord — that  is  the  authority.  No  modest  man 
who  considers  the  real  nature  of  Swedenborg's  mission  and  his 
wonderful  qualifications  for  it  will,  for  a  moment,  question  the 
accuracy  of  his  statements,  because  he  does  not  understand 
them,  or  because  they  seem,  inconsistent  with  other  statements ; 


DOCTRINE  AND   THE  HOLY  CITY.  225 

but  he  will  not  be  a  blind  slave  to  them  ;  he  will  simply  sus- 
pend his  judgment,  remembering  that  he  is  yet  groping  in 
comparative  darkness,  under  the  clouds,  low  down  on  the  ac- 
clivity of  the  mountain,  whilst  Swedenborg,  when  he  wrote, 
had  risen  above  the  clouds  into  the  bright  light  of  the  summit. 
The  Divine  ivords — but  words  enforced  by  the  terrible  quak- 
ings  and  thunderings  of  the  burning  Mount — were  authority 
to  the  sensuous  Israelites ;  the  Lord's  personal  teachings, 
when  confirmed  by  "  signs  and  wonders,"  were  authority  to 
the  only  less  dark-minded  christian  ;  but  it  is  truth  rafionaUi/ 
seen,  thus  the  real  spirit  of  the  Word,  that  is  to  be  authority 
to  the  "  coming  man."  We  go  to  Swedenborg,  as  to  one  who 
has  gone  before,  for  a  verbal  descnjjtion  of  the  way  of  life ; 
we  go  to  the  Word,  thus  to  the  Lord,  for  light  to  shine  in  the 
way.  And  this  is  the  difference  between  the  Lord's  writings 
— Sacred  Scripture — and  Swcdenborg's  writings  ;  the  former, 
being  correspondences,  are  mediums  of  light  as  well  as  of 
verbal  instruction,  thus  of  conjunction  with  the  Lord ;  whilst 
the  latter,  not  being  correspondences,  are  mediums  only  of 
verbal  teachings  about  the  Light,  thus  about  the  Lord.  Swed- 
enborg wrote  while  in  the  light,  thus  as  illuminated  by  it ;  but 
the  light  did  not  flow  down  through  his  pen  into  his  words 
and  illuminate  them,  nor  did  it  make  them  mediums  of  light 
to  the  reader.  The  Prophets,  on  the  contrary,  did  not  write 
in  the  light,  yet  their  words,  being  the  Lord's  words,  and 
therefore  correspondences,  were,  qualifiedly,  mediums  of  the 
light  to  the  devout  reader.  Swedenborg's  writings,  therefore, 
are  simply  mediums  of  rational  instruction  ;  the  Word,  besides, 
of  spiritually  warming,  illuminating,  living  light. 

THE    END. 


ir 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
This  book  is  DUE  on  tlte  mst  date  damped  below 


AUG  1 9  1935 

,     3  MM 
^^  I  0  JS44 
9'  1944 

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